All Along
by spacEnigma83
Summary: This is a story that I think could happen right after the season 2 finale. Everyone is on a ship with nowhere to run and plenty of extra time to have some "unwanted" conversations. This is a TERRIBLE description but this is a story about Regina having conversations with everyone on the ship. The main subject of discussion is family. Eventually we make it to Neverland too.
1. Chapter 1

**I wrote this story during the break between the Season Two finale and the start of Season Three so there are no spoilers of any kind (that I am aware of) as this is a random story. It was simply something written to wait for the new season to start but some people seemed to like it... so... :)**

**This was meant to be a Snow/Mary Margaret and Regina story but it turned in to a story about Regina dealing with... well... everyone which explains my crazy inaccurate description.**

**All Along**

"Where did Regina run off to?" Mary Margaret asks her husband and daughter who sit beside each other on a bunk in the sleeping quarters of the Jolly Roger.

"Not like she can go far… we're on a ship." Emma says quite sarcastically causing David to chuckle from beside her.

Mary Margaret only glares at her husband before she offers, "Well, I don't think she should be alone right now and I don't want to leave her out of any plans because that will just give her more reason to withdraw."

"Wait a minute… wait a minute… You are Snow White right? The woman who was hunted down by Regina? Regina… The Evil Queen... and now you want her beside you?" Emma points out with a smile on her face.

"I'm glad you can joke about all this." She says with a smile. "But I'm serious. She was going to use that trigger against us because somehow she caught wind of us attempting to possibly leave her behind. I'm not going to take the chance that something like that will happen again. She needs to be here when we talk about… whatever we plan to talk about here." She says throwing her hands in the air at her own confusion. "We need to be on the same team… for Henry."

"Maybe she just needs to be alone for a while." Emma suggests.

"Well… I just don't want her to be left out. I'm gonna go find her." Mary Margaret makes her way out of the sleeping quarters and searches the brunette out. She finds her up on the forecastle deck, leaning her back against a rail away from the edge of the ship, just staring out at the water in the distance.

"Regina?" She calls quietly to her. The woman turns her head, face void of emotion, and simply stares at the smaller brunette who approaches. "I... just wanted to check on you. I know we've been... _distracted_... by everything that's been going on."

Regina furrows her brow in irritation and turns back to look out at the water once more. She says nothing as the other woman comes to stand beside her. They stand there silent for some time. Mary Margaret sets her gaze over the spans of water before them before turning her head to look the woman over. She opens her mouth to speak several times and each time she holds back.

Regina, fully aware of the woman's actions, relents and with a heavy sigh asks just above a whisper, "Why?" She shakes her head and inhales deeply as annoyance and irritation can be read in her body language.

Mary Margaret is confused by this question. She grimaces at the thought of what she might mean but decides to get clarification for this one worded question. "Why... what?"

"After all this time..." She sighs again as she drops her shoulders. "After everything I have done to you... why do you continue to save me? Is it just that you are determined to be at odds with me no matter what? I mean even in kindness..." She darts a hand out in the air. "I tried to sacrifice myself. I try to end my life so that you could have all gotten away safely, and you went back to save Me." she says turning to face the woman, her eyes wide as she is on the brink of tears.

Mary Margaret nods her head as a small smile forms on her lips. She turns her attention to the horizon. "I might ask the same questions of you."

Regina turns away while rolling her eyes as if offended by the comment. This chit chat session was just not worth her time right now. "You know... if you had just left like you were supposed to Henry wouldn't be in trouble now."

Mary Margaret laughs, she laughs quite heartily actually. In fact the idea of her own laughter only causes her to laugh harder and Regina simply stares at her with a deadly glare but this does nothing to stop her.

Fed up with this childlike display Regina turns to leave her but Mary Margaret grabs her arm and holds her in place as she does a horrible job of trying to gain her composure. "No wait..." She says in a gasp. "I mean really... where do you plan to run off to? We're on a ship in the middle of a body of water we have no idea how to navigate." She says in an amused tone.

Regina's face steels and she abruptly yanks her arms from within the younger woman's grasp. "I'm willing to jump ship so long as I don't have to stand here while you... stand here in hysterics over the fact that Henry is out there somewhere with two magic hating kidnappers. I find no humor in any of this." Though she means to sound harsh her tone is anything but.

Mary Margaret only hears how defeated this woman is. Knowing this she stops her snickering but still maintains a smile as she speaks to the woman once more. "I know and I'm sorry but that's not what I find funny. We'll find Henry. We'll get him back... but the fact that you still want to blame me for everything is just a joke. Really Regina... Do you ever get tired of blaming me for the things that go wrong in your life?"

Regina turns about so that she may look in any other direction except at Mary Margaret. She stuffs her hands in to her coat pockets and manages to find a point on the deck to stare at.

Mary Margaret steps closer to her with a now serious look on her face. "If you really want an answer to your question... I'll give you one." She tilts her head and waits for Regina to look her in the eye and when she does she takes this as permission to continue. She takes a deep breath and goes over to lean against the wooden rail. "Regina... all I ever wanted was for us to be family." She turns and meets eyes with the woman who only lowers her gaze. "You remember that story I told you, when I thought you were... what was the name you gave yourself? Wilma." She says raising her eyebrows at the memory. "I told you the story of how we met and how you saved my life. I told you all about how you changed me. I meant it. I meant every word of it. I wasn't just telling the story to save face or make small talk with a person who I thought was a complete stranger. That is what I thought of you. I thought you were a genuinely good person and I truly believe you were good when I met you. When I found out that my father had proposed to you and you had accepted all I could think about, all I really hoped for was that we might someday be happy as a family."

Regina turns to face the horizon that Mary Margaret is looking out to. She remains silent as she too leans on the wooden rail next to the younger woman. She purses her lips as she thinks on this. "You took away my happiness..." Regina starts to say in a broken whisper.

"Not on purpose. I was a child... and yes I know I broke a promise but to be fair it was a promise made between two very young people. I was a child and you were just old enough to be married off. I didn't do that to hurt you. I never wanted to hurt you… in any way."

"And yet you still..." Regina tries to say but is cut off.

"Regina…" She drawls out her name. "You can keep blaming me if you like. That's fine... it's what you have always done but despite what you might think... I did that because I loved you. I know now it was the biggest mistake of my life... to trust your mother. To trust someone so vindictive... someone who literally had no heart." She says fiercely which only goes to fuel Regina's sudden rage.

"DO NOT speak of my mother that way! You..." She whispers as she tries to hold back tears. "You're the reason she's dead. You're the reason I'm alone. You tricked me into killing her. You never cease to interfere in my life. You meddle and play these childish games all the while trying to act the part of an innocent!" She shouts. "You manipulated me in a way that I never thought possible. The fairest of them all… Snow White tricked The Evil Queen." She says in a pained grimace as tears threaten to fall from her bleary eyes. "All I did was save you!" She yells. "How was I repaid for that? My life has been nothing but loss. Everyone that matters to me gets taken away. Daniel, My mother, and now Henry... all gone because of you. We'll be lucky if Henry doesn't meet their same fate." She says defeated now as she covers her face with her hands.

Mary Margaret sighs. "You are always so quick to give up. If you would stop fighting me long enough you would realize we're on the same side here. You know?" She takes a few steps towards the stairs. "Even when I tried to hate you I couldn't because deep down somewhere inside I was holding out hope that you would somehow be a part of my life, a part of my family. It's silly isn't it? Then again Emma always points out how very optimistic I am but if I lose that hope then I lose it all." She takes a few steps down the stairs now but turns back to say, "Without hope I might have given up too... but here we all are and make no mistake we will find Henry… but we'll only get him back if we do this together." She says definitively before she takes her leave.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

After hearing Mary Margaret's fading footsteps Regina removes her hands from her face and sniffles. When she turns to the stairs she gasps to find Emma standing there. "She's right. I do point out her optimism. It's annoying how positive and upbeat she can be. I mean granted she was in bed for days after she tricked you into killing your own mother but here she is... ever optimistic. Sickening isn't it?" Emma asks as she takes a few steps closer to the woman though her tone ever sarcastic.

"Do you always make it a point to eavesdrop?" Regina asks numbly, her voice tired and broken.

"We're on a ship, the Jolly Roger no less. There's not much we _can't_ hear in such a small space." Emma offers. "You know? I often wonder about you two... you and her." Emma says coming up beside her to lean on the wooden rail in front of them effectively standing in for her own mother at the moment. "How many times have you had the chance to end her only to come up short?" Emma asks but does not wait for an answer. "How many times has she tried to defeat you only to spare your life?" She asks again and it's obvious these are all rhetorical questions.

"I do not wish to discuss..." Regina quietly argues but makes no effort to leave.

"It's not like you have anything better to do at the moment." She says in an exasperated tone. "I was going to do what you asked me to do. I was going to leave you back there in that mine and let you die. It was your big shining moment and I was ready to let you have it. I went back to that diner with every intention of just getting us all the hell out of town but Henry wouldn't accept that. He said that you are family and family does not get left behind." Emma stops to look over at Regina who only shares a sad smile at hearing this about Henry.

"The only reason I ever saved you was because Henry asked me to." Emma offers quietly but she keeps her face steeled. "I wasn't going to listen to him this time but lucky for you he had Mary Margaret on his side. She practically pleaded, begged me to wise up. Her and her damn optimism... she couldn't accept defeat and so we ran back to save you. I knew that there was a big chance this was all going to fail. I just knew it was going to be something I would regret. I just knew." She says with an angry laugh now. "I mean... we both know how I'm always right." She says with a roll of her eyes while Regina manages to gasp at the attempt at humor. "For some strange reason she cares about you and I'm pretty sure that she always has. I won't lie... it annoys me... it bothers me to no end that she can care about someone that she should very well hate but she doesn't." Emma says with a tilt of her head. "Come to think of it I see now how you both have that in common. You loved your mother even though you should have hated her. She did things to you that I probably can't even imagine. I mean she framed you for murder just to what... win you back?"

"But I couldn't hate her. She was my mother." Regina says quietly.

"Yeah and a nut-job." Regina sighs as she is tired of trying to defend her mother but Emma is already ready to offer an apology. "I'm sorry... okay? To be fair you hate my mother." Emma smiles and after a beat she offers in her departure. "Anyway... I'll leave you alone. I'm sure you're tired of all the harassment and I can tell you're not in a talking mood, especially if you let me get all that out, but Henry is right. In the whole grand scheme of things... You're still family." She shrugs and heads down the stairs.

Regina continues to stand at the wooden rail lost in thought but then another voice rings out from behind her, "Family... What a strange concept."

"Is this some sort of sick game you all are playing? Let's all harass Regina and see who gets her to jump overboard first?" She says with an annoyed twist of her head as she turns to eye Mr. Gold.

"Well Dearie, there is much fun to be had in that. It amazes me how twice I've seen you approached up here and both times you seemed to remain quite docile. Yet here I am with nothing but a word on family and you can't seem to hold back. What sort of a hold do they have over you now? Where is that woman so hungry for revenge and so ripe for corruption?"

"She's gone... and why are you so adamant about bringing her back? I don't understand you." She says shaking her head as she stands closer to him in an attempt to threaten him. "All you ever want to do is remind me of my past... when in truth the only reason any of this ever started was because of you." She shoves him and he struggles to keep balance but does not back down.

He puts his cane down firmly on the deck in front of him and sneers. "Is it my fault you are so easy to manipulate?" He says simply with a shrug and a smug grin. "I believe you were never anything if not eager to learn my ways with magic… much like your mother though no one could tame her."

Regina scoffs, nearly gags, at the sound of these words. "I have no doubt that she became who she was because of you."

"I merely gave her the tools with which to conquer her own destiny. The path she took was all her own. She was a creature of her own making." He says with a defiant lift of his chin. "Such a shame she was executed by her own daughter."

"Which in turn spared you and your miserable life." Regina spits.

"Don't forget it was our own fair Snow White who was able to use her against you." Gold mocks.

"Oh spare me your tricks. I'm not falling for that anymore. You can say what you will but we both know it had nothing to do with her... you used her own weakness against her. Her will to do good... to do what is right. You knew she'd give in and all you had to do was say the magic word... family. The very thing you joke about now." Regina says through a pained grimace.

"It's a shame really. You had the makings of a powerful sorceress yet you gave in to the one weakness your mother never allowed herself to succumb to."

Regina rolls her eyes trying not to sound too interested but she simply can't help it so she asks, "And what would that be exactly?"

"Her heart. Do you ever wonder why she was so good at what she did? Did our Dear Snow not show you... hand it over to you... deliver to you the very weapon that could be her undoing?"

"Love is weakness..." Regina offers in a whisper more in realization now of why her mother often used the phrase.

"So she said but in truth the only person whose weakness it was... was her own." He says with a nod. "... and I don't just mean because of the poison." He says with a laugh.

Regina shoves him again. "You!" She growls. "You and your deals, your mind games... this is all your doing. I've been blaming that girl but it's been you all along!" She says as she gathers a magical flame in her hands. "Everything I've ever done was by your manipulation. You egged me on, put the ideas in my head. Everything was part of your plan wasn't it? They've been blaming me for the curse but it was _YOUR_ curse. You created it. You even put a clause in to have it broken by The Savior. All of this... this whole mess..." She says in a pained scream but is cut off.

"It was all for nothing because I've lost what I was after." He says simply lowering his gaze to the deck.

"Neal?" Emma deduces in a whisper from the lower deck so that only Mary Margaret and David can hear her. They rip their gaze away from Regina and Gold to look to their daughter. "We've been blaming the wrong person." Emma says with a frown but no one has time to talk this through as they hear an anguished scream unlike anything they've ever heard from the woman.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Regina had thrown a blast of magical fire at Gold which sends him off the ship but not before sending a fire of his own in defense against her. Everyone gasps and David goes to get a rigging together to save the man. "We still need him! You take care of Regina. I'll work on getting him back on this ship." David says in a rush as the two women make their way up.

Regina is on her knees, tears staining her cheeks, but her face remains passive. She does not say anything as the two women go to help her up. They share a worried glance with one another as they each take an arm and lift her to her feet. Eventually they lead her to the sleeping quarters and get her to lay down though she remains silent, almost catatonic.

Emma stands there and watches as her mother throws a blanket over the woman. "I'll… go see if David needs help."

The woman acknowledges her with a nod but keeps her eyes on Regina. It seems the woman is barely holding on by a thread but Mary Margaret cannot help but ask in a whisper, "Regina… are you alright?"

When you ask a woman who is just at her breaking point if she is alright, that is usually enough to push her past that point and so Regina breaks out into a gasp. Her sobs are pained and she puts her hands to her eyes to cover them. Her body is wracking as she lets these feelings out. She's tired. She is in pain. She is also just tired of holding it in.

Mary Margaret sits beside her stunned. She makes several attempts to reach out to her but retracts each time afraid she'll only make the woman angry. She simply waits. She waits to see if the woman will say or ask for anything. She waits and watches as this woman falls apart before her eyes and then tears fall from her own face at having to stand by.

After a few minutes Regina drops her arms to her sides and stares up at the wooden beams in the ceiling above her. She takes a few deep breathes and makes no effort to wipe away her tears. She continues to stare until she has calmed down enough to utter in a broken voice, "You should have let him kill me."

Mary Margaret frowns at hearing this. "Gold? I don't think he has it in him to kill you."

"I wasn't talking about Gold." Regina barks at her.

"Greg Mendel?" She questions in confusion. "Well he is a seriously demented young man if he can blatantly torture people. I really thought you were dead when we walked in and found you."

"You should have let me die." She says in an angry voice now. "I was ready. I wanted it to be over and done with." She growls.

"Like I did when I asked you to kill me on your front porch?" Mary Margaret asks.

"That's different… I wanted you to suffer." She says furrowing her brown in anger. "I wanted you alive and hurting not dead."

Mary Margaret shuts her eyes trying to will her own anger away. She cannot react to this, it's what Regina wants. The woman loves confrontation as it's usually the only way she interacts with anyone. At least that's the history she had with Mary Margaret. "Regina…" She whispers the woman's name.

"My mother was right. Love is weakness. It's the reason I will always get hurt. It's no wonder she ripped out her own heart." Regina says in a tired voice and with a sigh she adds. "I did this to myself. I got exactly what I deserve didn't I? I'm alone."

"You're not alone." Mary Margaret practically growls. "I am sick and tired of you saying that. I won't let you die. I won't let you get left behind. Henry, he'll be waiting for us... all of us. So stop trying to pick fights. Stop arguing with everyone. I see what you're doing. You're trying to push against us… you just want to push us all away but the harder you push the tighter we're going to hang on so just stop fighting it."

Regina makes eye contact with the woman but only for a second. "...because we're family?" She asks quietly. "What is wrong with you?" She asks with a wrinkle of her brow. "You give me all these... chances." She says putting a hand on her forehead. "I always do the opposite of what you expect. Don't you see that? I'm never going to be who you think I was."

"No... but you'll be who Henry wants you to be. He really does love you. You know that right? He's forgiven you and he has more reason to hate you than I ever did." Mary Margaret says rolling her eyes. "In the end you were trying to be better for him and now you're just going to let all that hard work go to waste? You think you're alone when in reality you have someone to fight for. He's out there... he's been taken from you..."

"It's not the first time..." Regina mutters under her breath.

"Stop that. Stop digging in your heels." Mary Margaret reaches out and grabs her wrist to pull it away from her head and get this woman's attention. "Regina... we're already that much closer to getting him back... you have to start thinking about what you plan to do once he's here. Are you going to be who we all labeled you as, The Evil Queen, or are you going to be who you really are? Are you going to be Regina again?"

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard..." The woman grumbles and tries to pull her hand away but can't seem to break the hold her hand is under now.

Mary Margaret laughs. "I was Snow White of the enchanted forest remember? I'm supposed to say cheesy good natured things like that." She smiles.

"I blame the mortal world and their misguided storytelling. They make us sound so... ridiculous… as if I would poison you because of your beauty." Regina says with a hint of a smile.

"This... you find funny?" Mary Margaret asks with a smirk and a quirk of her brow. "Clearly there's no contest."

"Of course not… I... am the pretty one." Regina offers with a shrug and she sniffles to hold in a laugh.

Mary Margaret smiles and shakes her head. "Gorgeous is more like it." Regina's eyes widen at the comment and she looks up at the younger woman. "It was one of the things I always thought about you. Surely you knew that? I mean when I met you and then told my father you had saved me the first thing I said to him was that you were beautiful." Regina smiles shyly and starts to sit up. "I'm surprised no one tried poisoning _YOU_." She suggests.

"Yes well... clearly being strapped to a table and getting electrocuted didn't kill me. I doubt poison would have worked." She says with a sad smile as her hair falls over her eyes.

Mary Margaret unceremoniously reaches out to tuck that hair away from her face to look her in the eye. "You are lucky he didn't start you off on the high voltage but even the jolts from the lower voltage burned."

"You say that like you felt it." Regina suggests. "You have no idea what that felt like. The sting of it running through your veins..."

"The clenching of your muscles…? The way your back arches on its own accord as the current taps in to your nervous system. The spasms in your thighs when he stopped or how drained you felt afterward. It only lasted a few seconds that first time but it felt like long agonizing minutes." Mary Margaret adds with a tilt of her head before meeting eyes with the woman.

"How... did you find me exactly?" Regina asks narrowing her eyes. Mary Margaret shrugs not answering the question so she opens her mouth to press further but David and Emma come into the quarters gasping.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Gold's... fine." David offers as he comes in to the space. "Angry... wet... but otherwise he's fine. He's decided to stay up top and avoid any further confrontation." He says with a nod. "Everything okay here?" He asks looking back and forth between the two women carefully.

"Yeah." Mary Margaret offers as she moves to sit on an old chest on the opposite side of the small quarters. David sits next to her and Emma leans against some shelves close by.

"You're not seriously going to start planning out an attack here are you?" Emma asks eyeing David and Mary Margaret. "We don't even know where we are. We can't… _plan_ to do anything."

"No, but we can ask Hook what we may be up against." David offers.

"Well why don't you go have a man to man with him then?" Emma says with a smile as she points a thumb over her shoulder.

"He's not going to just offer up information... not to any of us anyway. He's only going to trust someone he has things in common with." David says as he, his wife, and Regina all give Emma a look.

"What! Why do I have to be the one to talk to him?" She asks in a very uncharacteristic whine.

"Well what was all that talk back at the diner... about you and he understanding one another?" Mary Margaret asks sarcastically while David laughs.

Emma rolls her eyes. "I... just meant that I know where he's coming from. He was gonna make a run for it. That's what I used to do. You act like this is some sort of a surprise." She says with a shrug. "I spent a lot of time on my own and the second I trusted anyone... well..."

"You ended up pregnant and in jail..." Regina offers.

"Yeah." She affirms before setting her gaze back on David but when he gives her a stern look she relents anyway. "Fine! I'll go talk to him." She grumbles. "You know... life was so much easier when I didn't believe you were my parents." She says narrowing her eyes at them but can't help the grin that forms on her lips.

"I'll come with you... don't want to miss out on anything." David says as he gets to his feet.

"… or miss out on another chance to punch him in the face you mean." She says as she shoves him playfully and they make their exit leaving Regina and Mary Margaret alone once more.

"She's taken to family life quite well hasn't she?" Regina offers quietly.

"It's strange... but yes I suppose she has." Mary Margaret says with a shrug. "It's what she's been looking for all her life. She was looking for us and just when she was ready to give up... she found us."

"It's sickening how you all manage to do that." Regina offers dryly as she turns so that her feet now touch the ground. She keeps a tight grip on the edge of the bunk for support still seeming to be weak from her magical scuffle with Gold.

"Yes... well... that's how I know we'll find Henry. When someone in this family is missing we always find one another." Mary Margaret offers with a small smile.

"... but how did you find me?" Regina asks as she narrows her eyes. "You just described... in detail... what I was experiencing during my torture. How could you possibly know that? Tamara had come in to the room to find Greg and tell him how she was able to throw Neil and Emma off their trail. How were you able then to find me?"

"We had help." She says simply. "We... we used a potion that... well it just helped us to find you." She says trying to brush off her question.

"No..." Regina warns. "Tell me... How exactly did it help you?"

"Regina, what does it matter? We found you... can't we just leave it at that?" She asks pleading with the older woman who continues to glare at her.

"I gave her a potion that allowed her to see and feel what you saw while you were seeing and feeling it." Gold offers as he walks into the sleeping quarters.

Regina takes a moment to think this over but she is too bothered by Gold's intrusion on their conversation to give it very much thought. "Of course you had some part in this. Tell me... what sort of purpose would that potion have served anyone else? Your knowledge of the future simply makes these games you play that much more menacing." She growls as she stands up to make her way to him meaning in every way to challenge him but Mary Margaret steps between them and holds Regina in place by her arms.

"No... stop this." She insists and does not let go of the woman even when she is met with a steeled glare. "We asked for his help to find you and he did. The potion worked on me, gave me enough of a clue as to where you might be." Mary Margaret says as she finally let's go of the woman turning around to get Gold to move along. She leads him to the stairs. "Stop. Pushing. Her." She warns him sternly.

"Push her? I'm merely here to offer motivation. We both know she does her best work under duress." Gold says with a smirk as he starts to walk out.

"What would we need to motivate her for?" Mary Margaret asks but then thinks better of it. "Just get out." She says giving him a swift shove in the right direction. After a moment she turns back around to Regina. "I'm sorry about that. We'll do better to keep him away from you." She offers earnestly.

"I am perfectly capable of handling him." Regina offers as she crosses her arms over her chest.

"Handling him? Yes. Handling what you do when you're in a rage? Not so much." She offers pointedly as she stands closer to the woman mimicking her stance up to the crossing of her arms over herself.

"It cannot be helped. He gets under my skin. Do you even understand that you are defending this man? He is the very source of all our troubles? If it weren't for him I never would have turned to magic... I never would have started down that path." She offers with a pained frown.

"Why do you do that?" Mary Margaret asks suddenly. "Why do you always want to blame everyone else?"

"So you're saying it's my fault then? You do blame me." She suggests with a raise of her brow.

"No I don't blame you… I'm just saying that when you finally take responsibility for your own actions we'll all learn to move on. We can't change the past." She says in exasperation.

"We probably can with magic." Regina says with a raise of her brow.

"Are you willing to risk losing what you have now... because we both know all magic comes with a price?" She asks with a tilt of her head hoping this gives the woman something to really think on.

"What _do_ I have to lose?" She offers simply with a shrug and a frown.

"If you somehow try to change your past you may very well lose what little peace you have now. You'll lose Henry for one. If things did not play out the way they did, if the curse had not been cast, we would not have come to the mortal world. Henry would not even exist." She says and then when the muscles of Regina's face relax she adds, "Are you willing to lose that… to lose your only family?"

Regina swallows and meets the young woman's gaze. "Technically he's your family." She says in a quiet voice.

"He's every bit your family as he is mine." Mary Margaret says with a tilt of her head. "... and like it or not we are now a part of that same family... Henry's family."

"Oh!" Regina scoffs. "What is it with you and that word? Family… is it just your "go to" defense for every argument you ever make?"

Mary Margaret smiles brightly and tries not to laugh as she says, "I'm not the one who started it. It was your own son who suggested this I'm simply the one trying to validate that point for you. Like I said before... that was something I've always wanted but then again you tried to convince me once that it was something you wanted as well... although you were not... yourself then."

"What are you getting at? When did I _ever_ give you _that_ impression?" She demands.

"When you were Wilma." She sees that Regina is going to try to feign forgetfulness so she presses further. "Did you or did you not ask If by chance... _Regina..._ wanted to change, if she wanted to be family again, would I forgive her? That was at your suggestion then not mine… the fact that you asked if we could be family... again." Regina just rolls her eyes and lifts her chin defiantly; clearly she does not want to address this little tidbit of information so Mary Margaret moves on with her comments. "Now remember that when you asked me this I was still convinced you were another person. I had no idea it was you although I did find it strange that this young woman was suddenly very interested in my relationship with the Queen. You must know that I was nothing but honest in my reply. I said..."

"That if she really meant it... you would forgive her." Regina finishes for her. "But again I have always been good at proving you wrong and then we happened upon that village my men massacred and eventually you figured me out." Regina offers with an angry frown.

"Yes but then when you ran off and I had time to calm down I went over in my head all the things I had said to you... and all the things that you said to me while in this disguise of yours."

"Actually that was Rumple's doing. I had no idea how to perform a glamour at that point so he did it for me... I was... I was going to try to kill you."

"Yet you didn't. You had plenty of time and opportunity especially then." She points out. "My guard was down the whole time you were with me... up until I figured out it was you." She takes a few steps away to sit back down on the old chest she had sat upon earlier with David. "What made you change your mind?"

Regina remains silent, not so much ignoring the question, but trying rather to find the right answer to it. She turns around to look down at the younger woman where she sits and finally says in a tired tone, "You did."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"How could I have changed your mind?" Mary Margaret asks with a surprised raise of her eyebrow. "I mean all you've ever done is try to hurt me. That time you didn't even attempt to threaten me. You were..."

"Passive? Yes... I know." She admits as she lowers her gaze to the wooden planked floor between them. "Still when you saved me from a beheading..." She trails off and makes her way to sit back on the bunk. "I had been hurt and you tended to my wound. You watched over me and all the while you treated me with such kindness. I don't think anyone had ever taken the time to treat me that way and the fact that it was you... well... it caught me by surprise. Then you told that story... about me, about the day we met and it just made things all that more complicated. I started remembering certain feelings. I remember how it felt to save you. I was scared but more scared for you, worried I would not get to you in time, and then relieved I was able to save you. I was at my best back then and you started to remind me of all that with your little story and it... well... it made it hard for me to go through with my plan." Regina says sadly as she splays a hand in the air.

"Regina, I never looked back on the day we met as something terrible. That hope I told you about... the one I always hold on to... it's there because of that story." Mary Margaret offers with a smile.

"Up until that moment I never really thought about us as family. It never occurred to me that this was something that could be possible. That's why I... I asked you, knowing you might not have answered if you knew it was me that if I had asked you would have accepted me..."

"As my family?" Mary Margaret suggests. "After you ran away from me that was one of the first thoughts that came to mind for me as well. I realized that was your attempt. You wanted to know if I could forgive you and I did at first. In truth you were all the family I had left. No mother... no father... just you. I had no idea the evil things you were trying to accomplish back then but then ignorance is bliss as they say. I would have been perfectly happy living with you. In fact it was the only thing I looked forward to after Father's funeral. I thought I still had someone." She says as she meets eyes with the woman across from her.

They stay quiet for a moment looking to one another, both on the verge of tears, and then Regina offers in a broken whisper. "I'm sorry."

"I think we both have a long way to go for I'm sorry." Mary Margaret says with a bow of her head but she does not say this in a condescending tone. "I'm willing to overlook any and everything so long as you do the same for me. We've done a lot of damage... the both of us... and I know things will never be perfect but then every family has their problems." She offers with a shrug and a purse of her lips. "Once you allow yourself to love someone it's really hard to hate them."

Regina sighs and with a roll of her eyes suggests aloud, "If there was any doubt that Emma was your daughter..." She offers but when Mary Margaret furrows her brow confused by this comment she adds, "She said... something about..." She shakes her head. "... about you not being able to hate me for the same reason I could not hate my own Mother. She's right... you both are. I think I hate that." She says with a small smile.

Mary Margaret lets out a gasp of a laugh, "Yes well... She's a smart one."

"She gets it from her mother I'm sure." Regina says as her smile broadens and then they meet eyes again. For some reason, whether it's to break the tension, or to simply be one in the moment they both laugh.

That is the moment when Emma comes down the stairs closely followed by David, "What's so funny?" She asks and when they both suddenly stop laughing but continue to smile knowingly she questions, "Were you two just talking about me?"

"Why on earth would we be doing that?" Regina asks quite seriously though the hint of humor is apparent in her voice.

"Self conscious are we?" Mary Margaret asks with a grin.

Emma narrows her eyes. "We're gone for like five seconds and now you are both in on some sort of inside joke?" Emma asks looking back and forth between the two brunettes. "Conspiracies all around I see." She says putting her hands on her hips.

"So Emma managed to talk to Hook." David says as he comes to stand behind Emma, being sure to grab her by the shoulders for good measure.

"Yeah... without having to beat anything out of him." Emma says with a smile. "Looks like Peter Pan is a lot more of a bad guy than the stories and movies make him out to be. If somehow Tamara and Greg are working for him Henry is in more trouble than we know. Hook says Peter Pan is some sort of person who traffics in smuggling children to his world from our world but mostly it's just boys. Back home that would normally scream pedophile to me but I'm not sure what that's all about here in this world."

David steps forward to speak to the women in the room."The lost boys are simply what the name infers. They've all been kidnapped and brought back to Neverland to some sort of work camp. Hook... was vague on the nature of those camps."

"Vague... evasive... same thing." Emma chimes in. "The point is we need to find out what the connection is here. Why all of a sudden did it go from kidnapping Regina, torturing her, and enacting the failsafe to kidnapping Henry and jumping in to a portal to... Neverland?" She asks trying her best not to feel ridiculous saying this.

"No the real question here is..." Gold says as he makes his way back in to the sleeping quarters. "Who is Peter Pan?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Why must you put your two cents in to any given situation Gold... haven't you done enough?!" Regina asks as she gets to a stand.

"Now remember if it weren't for you we would not find ourselves in this current situation. You were so determined to enact that failsafe you so cleverly hid away but you were foolish enough to get kidnapped and taken advantage of." He says.

"Enough." David says quite sternly as he comes to stand in front of Mr. Gold to keep him there.

"It isn't like she asked to be kidnapped." Emma offers in an ever adolescent way. "How did that even happen?" She asks looking to Regina now.

"I… went to look for the failsafe where I hid it..." She starts to offer in a stutter. "I took Hook with me. I had no idea he was working for Greg and Tamara but I guess I should have suspected as much from him."

"How could you have known?" Mary Margaret offers in some small attempt to put the woman at ease.

Regina merely brushes this comment aside. "Hook ended up turning against me and practically offered me up to them. Tamara had her little checklist with our names on it and before they hauled me away she asked Greg who I was on that list. Honestly I don't know how he knew I was once the Queen. I find that all just a bit… unsettling." She says with a scowl.

"That probably had a lot to do with Neil's involvement with Tamara. He said he gave her the list so she'd know who was who but we didn't realize he was just a pawn to her. Tamara she's the real threat out of the two… not that... not that Greg wasn't a threat to you." Emma offers throwing a fleeting glance to Regina. "I'm only saying she seemed to be in charge of things. I mean she almost admitted that much right before she sent Neil through the portal."

After that the silence sets in. Gold eventually makes his way back out to the main deck to avoid any sort of altercation with Regina while Emma and David head out to see if they have a new heading. This in turn effectively leaves Regina and Mary Margaret alone once more.

In an effort to avoid any awkwardness with the younger woman Regina turns to lie down in the bunk she had been seated in. Of course this is not a very good attempt on her part for the woman speaks up. "Regina… how does Greg know you?"

"Dear, is this really something you want to know or are you merely trying to make small talk?" She says with a sigh indicating her annoyance with this question.

"I just want to know. What reason would he have to kidnap you?" Mary Margaret asks and it's not hard to hear the weariness in her tone.

"Is this your polite way of asking me what evil deed I did that would cause such a man… a man not of our own world to exact such a revenge… is that it?" She asks as she turns her head to make eye contact.

"Yes Regina. That's what I'm asking." Mary Margaret admits in an angry tone.

"It's funny how you claim to forgive me, claim you will overlook all my transgressions, and yet you still manage to belittle me with your subtle attempts at an interrogation." She says quite haughtily.

At hearing this Mary Margaret's anger gets the best of her so she stands. She takes a moment to get her anger in check not willing to let Regina rile her up and let her get away with avoiding this question. She takes a few calming breathes and then makes her way over to sit down on the edge of the bunk that Regina lies in. She hopes that with her being close the woman will not refuse to answer her now. "Regina… I just want to know how he knows you." She says in a low voice as she looks down and only finds a glare in the woman's eyes.

She sighs loudly but relents and begins with a story. "When I first cast the curse and the town of Storybrooke was created it took a few days for me to realize that every day would repeat itself but only for me. I would see the same people living out the same monotonous situations all the while living with the thought that I had indeed won and there were no more happy endings for anyone. Well… I was too correct in that assumption. I did not gain any happy endings for myself either. I was now the Mayor of this little humdrum town where nothing of importance would ever take place but suddenly this man and his son came to town." She takes a moment to decide how to reveal the rest of her story.

She looks up at the younger woman who sits staring down at her own hands waiting for the older woman to continue. She sighs deeply but does eventually start up again. "They were going to be staying in town until their vehicle was repaired from the havoc that took place as the curse took shape. I simply assumed the curse would be confined to the people of our kingdom but with these outsiders my eyes had been open. I didn't write the curse so I did not know what it would entail. This was a world where no one knew any of us, a world without magic, but a world where there were definitely rules."

Mary Margaret looks down at her, narrowing her eyes with a bit of panic but she remains silent allowing the woman to continue to recount.

"I grew curious about the man and his son. In fact it was all I could think about… the idea that such outsiders could bring about a change of pace for me when I had no one to challenge me, no one to argue with. Even you lost your bite and rebelliousness I had come to expect. I did not know the curse would cause everyone to fall under such passiveness."

Mary Margaret chuckles quietly to herself and when she meets Regina's questioning gaze she offers, "So you missed arguing with me?"

She rolls her eyes, "Don't flatter yourself Dear. That was merely an example. Anyhow, I found myself wanting to know more about this man and his son. I might even say I enjoyed their company, so much so I started to find myself trying to think of a way to keep them in town indefinitely. I mean if I was going to have to live in this town where things would never seem to change I might as well welcome companionship in the form of this man and his son." She offers with a shrug.

"You tried to... to what? Hold them hostage?" Mary Margaret asks with a pained grimace.

"When you put it that way... well...I can see how this sounds." She says as she starts to sit up. She opens her mouth to try and argue this point but is at a loss for words.

"I'm sorry... please continue with your story. I won't interrupt you." The younger woman offers hurriedly.

"I... no... you're right. When push came to shove and I asked them to stay the Father turned me down and so I decided to use my forces against him. I was going to either make him stay and keep his son or at the very least convince him to leave his son behind." She growls at her own admission. "Look I know this sounds awful... I just... I felt like I needed him. I felt like I needed to... to keep the boy with me. He didn't want to go back to his old life anyway. He didn't have a mother... I was desperate... I was..."

"You were lonely." Mary Margaret says as she grasps at Regina's wrist in an attempt to calm her down. "It's alright. You don't need to explain your motives... just... continue with your story." She says in a tone meant to reassure though her face expresses her own apprehension.

Regina offers a sad smile. "The Father figured me out and soon they were on the run. Just as they got to the town's edge Graham and I were able to stop them from leaving. It was then that I made a plea to the boy. I wanted him to stay with me to offer him a happiness that he longed for. He had no mother and so I thought I could be that for him. I... I just wanted him to be my family. He... begged me to let him go. I pleaded with him to understand that I thought this was what he wanted... to stay with me, but in the end his tears and cries to leave were enough for me to let him go but I kept his father because I knew that if we let him leave he'd bring more people to our town and the whole facade would fall apart. I couldn't risk that and so that was when I put up the town barrier so that no one could ever find us again."

"So this boy... It was Greg?" Mary Margaret asks turning to look over at Regina now.

"Yes." She says in a broken voice.

"And his father?"

"Dead... his body buried in the woods." She offers in a voice full of sadness and regret. "Remember how you said it's amazing how no one ever tried to poison me? Well... Greg was the closest to killing me. He would have done you more than a favor." She offers with a shrug.

Mary Margaret winces at hearing her say this but tries not to dwell on it. "Who knows what sort of situation he's mixed up in now with Tamara and whoever Peter Pan is? We may be at an advantage though if you think there is a way for you to manipulate him somehow."

"Ah but I also have the element of surprise. He hadn't counted on me living through that torture or getting my magic back and now that he has Henry there's no holding back." She says practically seething.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Honestly Regina you want to go the whole revenge route?" Mary Margaret asks as she stands up in the middle of the room. Regina soon gets to her feet as well.

"He's taken my son. You expect me to just stand by and do nothing?" Regina asks furiously.

"I'm just saying that this whole routine has never worked out well for you in the past and you have worked so hard to reform yourself for Henry. Now you just want to jump on the "I shall destroy you" thing again?"

"I cannot help that my heart has been blackened. Darkness is all I have known since I came to learn magic. I can't simply... un-learn it. You know nothing of magic and its pull and it's not about revenge anyway. He did threaten me. He threatened me physically. I would think it only fair to exact some sort of justice."

"Regina... what he did was cruel. He had no right to torture you that way but he's also not well. Revenge is not justice."

"So you'll simply excuse away what he did?" Regina asks with a pain stricken expression.

"No. I know how it hurt and I can't even imagine the depth of it as you were nearly left for dead on that table." She says with a shake of her head.

"You could have gone after him and left me there. I don't know what possessed you to save me. You've always been nothing but a foolish girl." She mutters lowly.

"Well I'm sorry!" Mary Margaret practically shrieks as she tries to fight off angry tears, taking quite a threatening stance in front of the other woman. "If I could take anything back it would be getting on that horse because it was the start of it all. I'm sorry that horse ran away with me. I'm sorry that you were put in a situation to save me. Okay? I'm sorry."

Regina shoves her away. "Stop apologizing to me you pathetic woman! Stop making this about you." She purses her lips and swallows hard before she says now in a low voice. "It... it wasn't even the fact that you got on that horse. I think..." She hesitates for a moment as she thinks back to that day. "I think my mother may have manipulated the whole thing. I mean I never got her to tell me how exactly but she did not argue when I rationalized how your presence in our field was not a coincidence."

"What?" Mary Margaret asks in a confused whisper. "I don't... I don't understand..."

Regina scowls at this. "Do I have to spell it out for you?" She asks as her brows meet together. "You were put in danger on purpose. The whole encounter... it was her doing."

Mary Margaret stares off to a wall as she tries to process this new information. Her eyes then scan the room aimlessly. The sound of heavy footsteps can be heard from behind her but she speaks up anyway, "You're telling me that even... even after learning that your mother was responsible you _chose_ to blame me for ruining your life?" She asks in a whisper and when Regina at a loss for words only frowns she laughs mockingly. She shuts her eyes and frowns. "I... have been blaming myself all this time feeling sorry for what I thought I did. I've spent all this time trying to make amends for something that wasn't even my fault?" She asks as the pain is clearly written on her face. Regina merely stands there gaping but offers no reply. Mary Margaret then pushes past Emma and David who had apparently heard that whole thing.

Emma looks to David and quickly offers, "I'll go talk to her. You..." she looks in Regina's direction, "... stay here." Before he can argue with her she rushes off after her mother. He stands there stunned and clears his throat.

"You don't have to babysit me like some helpless child. I'm fine if you want to run along and console your wife." She says as her head jerks in a way that indicates how annoyed she is by this whole situation.

"It's not about babysitting you it's about keeping you involved..." He starts to say before she interrupts him.

"Oh I swear if you say _"because we're family"_ I'm gonna hurl." Regina says in a growl as she rolls her eyes.

"Is that true... what you just said about your mother?" He asks. "This whole time you've been taking out your anger and trying to get revenge on Snow when in truth you never would have met her had it not been for your meddling mother?"

"Oh... she's as much to blame as my mother." Regina offers as she comes to stand before David in an ever menacing way.

"But to a slightly lesser degree. She didn't kill Daniel your Mother did. While I understand that she told your secret she did not do it on purpose."

"So she has said but that does not make her blameless." Regina says with a snarl now. "She... she ruined my chance at a happy ending. I trusted her with a secret that I never would have shared with anyone else. I told her not to tell my mother and that was the very person she went to."

"She was a child." David barks back.

"Sure she was a child but she wasn't very much younger than I was then. That didn't stop my mother from marrying me off to some old man! I trusted Snow and she betrayed me and that betrayal cost me the only person I have ever loved."

"Regina..." David says with a hint of warning in his tone. "You..." he has nothing to offer and she knows it.

Regina lets out a humorless laugh, "You can't find anything to defend that can you?"

"No and the thing that has me the most confused is that even after you were married to the King you were not satisfied. You could have been Queen and lived your life in comfort wanting for nothing." He offers.

"Were you not in an arranged marriage yourself? Did you not fight to be with the one you loved? I did not have that option. The only way out for me was to have the King killed off." She says but did not actually mean to reveal that. "I... mean..."

"You had her father killed?" The shocked question leaves his lips. "So... so you lost your true love and then married Snow's father and then killed him? Did it never occur to you that you had somehow gotten your revenge on her at the same time? Does she know about this?" He asks in a panic.

"I... no... I mean I don't know." She says with a pained grimace. "I... just assumed she'd have heard it or figured it out. I didn't... I didn't have him killed to hurt her I just... I just wanted to get my life back. I didn't... I didn't want to live that lie."

David puts a palm to his forehead and sighs. "She deserves to know." He says as he finally lowers his hand. "I have to tell her." He says as he turns to take his leave.

"No!" Regina shouts at him grabbing him by the arm. "No you can't tell her that. Not now..." She trails off for a moment. "I'll do it. She..." She struggles to make her point. "She needs to hear it from me. She's..." She laughs at herself. "I need to fix this. If you tell her she's just going to resent me even more than she does at this moment. If I'm going to... to do this... to be better for Henry I guess I have to start with the person that I've done the most damage to." She throws her hands up in exasperation never before considering this as an option. To reform she would have to eventually make amends.

David nods in understanding. "Fine." He says and then as an afterthought, "You know she is the only reason you are alive now don't you?" She meets his icy gaze. "I was perfectly content to leave you on that table and chase after Greg Mendel but she stopped me. She was too upset finding you the way she did." Regina remains silent. "She didn't want to leave you so she had me carry you off and take you back to our home because you see..." He drops his head before finishing. "There's just something about you she'll never let go of and though you fight her she has and always will consider you family."

"Oh... there it is. That magic word." Regina says sarcastically. "I knew you'd get it in to the conversation eventually." An angry frown spreads over her face.

"Believe it or not there is a bit of magic in having a family. That sort of magic might be the very thing to purify your blackened heart." He says in the most pompous way possibly. It didn't matter that he had been raised as a Sheppard he held his head high and made no room for arguments. "I think I might go check on my wife and daughter now if you think you are capable of keeping yourself in check until someone gets back. I don't want to give Gold a chance to rile you up."

"What is it with you both thinking I have no means to defend myself against that man? My mother had him under her thumb I can have him under the heel of my boot just fine." She mutters angrily.

"If it's all the same to you I'd rather not have him under anyone or anything. While I'm gone why don't you take this time to get your thoughts together? You'll have a lot to talk over with Mary Margaret once she's calmed down." He says as he starts to make his way out.

"Ah yes... how I love these little talks." She mutters to herself as she sinks back down to sit in the bunk once more. "I should have thrown myself overboard when I had the chance."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Regina manages to stay in the sleeping quarters for a good few minutes but then she hears Hook hollering. It does not sound like a cry for help or a cry in horror so she decides to make her way up to the deck and investigate.

Gold had been standing closest to her when she stepped foot on the main deck. "What is he going on about?"

"It seems our destination is finally in sight. There..." Gold points out to the distance.

She looks in the direction indicated and sees an island of sorts. There is a mountain peaking out through the lush greenery of this tropical looking place. "Is that Neverland?" Regina asks.

"That it is." Hook calls out to them from the ship's wheel he still attends to. "We should be on land shortly."

Regina takes in a deep breath. Henry was on her mind and seeing this place now gave her some comfort. A small gleam of hope was definitely finding its way through her. Gold manages to interrupt her happy thoughts. "I see you've managed to break up your new family so easily. When comes the part that you start killing them off one by one?" He asks with a menacing grin.

"I didn't..." She starts to say in a stutter and then she only gets angry. "I was only speaking the truth. It isn't my fault she gets so emotional about everything I reveal to her!" She shouts at him.

"Something else you both have in common." Gold replies with a wink which only servers to egg her on.

"That's it..." She growls as she conjures up a burst of magic in her hand.

"Dearie, you really need to get that short temper in check." He says with a smile and a nod as he takes a defensive stance in front of her.

There they stood as if about to duke it out in some sort of magical duel. He conjures his own magic and quickly strikes but Regina is quick to deflect his magic with her own. There is a shout at them as everyone on board comes closer rather than away. They pay no mind to that shouting as they continue to battle it out.

Regina conjures up another burst of magic in her hand but as she goes to release it there is another shout for them to "Stop". It's too late to heed this warning though as suddenly Mary Margaret is hit, thrown into the banister of the stairs to the upper deck. David rushes up to Gold to keep him from reacting while Emma runs over to her mother.

Regina slowly follows after Emma and as she approaches she lets out a gasp of panic. As Emma cradles her mother and tries to look her over it is apparent that the woman is unconscious. There is a gash to her head. Emma whispers, "It feels like her shoulder is out." Then she looks up at Regina. "Nice going." She growls as she gently lies the woman down and gets to a stand.

"I don't know why she doesn't just mind her own business." Regina says in a broken voice. It's apparent she does feel sorry for what she has done.

"Nice... blame the victim." Emma says as she steps closer to Regina giving her something in the way of a death glare.

"Oh don't do that... don't start blaming me for _her_ actions. It's not my fault you all just rush in to situations that have absolutely nothing to do with you." Regina says trying her best to sound angry though her voice wavers as she is actually fighting off some guilt now.

"She was trying to defend you!" Emma says ferociously.

"... and I've told her I don't need defending when it comes to that sniveling little..." She does not get to finish her statement though as the ship comes to a sudden halt nearly sending everyone toppling over.

"What the hell was that?" Emma demands as she tries to stand upright. She looks over in Hook's direction. "Did you hit something?"

"No... It seems there's some sort of a..." Hook tries to come up with answer.

"This place seems to be surrounded by a barrier much like the one Regina used on Storybrooke." Gold finishes for him.

"Uh... right... and I think we may have company." Hook calls out to them again as he points to the grapples that have now been thrown over the side of his ship.

When no one reacts to this it is Regina who speaks up as she rushes to grab Emma by the arm. "I'll get Mary Margaret to shore. Emma you... you have to try to do the same for you father."

"What?" Emma asks completely thrown by this suggestion.

"With your magic." She adds to clarify.

"I have no idea how to do that!" Emma says in a panic.

David comes over to them. "It's fine... we'll be fine." He insists. "You get her to shore and we'll come find you both later. We can handle this." He says to Regina as he and Emma start to take a defensive stand near the edge of the ship.

Regina then runs over to where Mary Margaret had been left lying unconscious. She bends down to look at her a moment before she sends them both to shore in a cloud of purple. Once on shore she takes a quick look back to the ship out in distance. It looked to be some sort of takeover but there were only three small row boats. "They'll be fine." She mutters to herself. "Oh..." She scoffs at herself. "Listen to me go on. I've spent too much time with you and your optimism." She says looking down at Mary Margaret.

She kneels down to look the younger woman over once more. She reaches out and feels for a pulse point at her neck. "I didn't bring you out here to die now..." She says to the unconscious woman. She turns to look in to the thickness of this tropical forest. Being out in the sand was not an ideal place to hide. "I guess we need a place to hide you while we wait for the others." She suggests aloud and again in her purple smoke she sends them just a bit further in to the trees.

This place looked nothing like the woods of Storybrooke nor the Enchanted forest. It was humid and though the sun was out and likely to set in a few hours the trees were so thick that it was nothing but shadow. She sits down and leans against a tree pulling the younger woman to her, resting her head in her lap. She looks down and grimaces. "I didn't mean to hurt you but I know the first thing you're going to do when you wake up is blame me for this." She is startled to hear a reply.

"No... you're the one who blames _me_ for everything." Mary Margaret says with a wince as her eyes flutter open. "What happened?" She whispers tiredly and when she tries to prop herself up on her elbow she lets out a subtle whimper. "Ah..."

"I believe Emma said your shoulder was out. You probably don't want to be leaning on it Dear." She offers quietly. "As for what has happened... the ship was possibly being taken over. I offered to get you to shore and wait as your husband and daughter seemed to think they had the situation handled."

Mary Margaret puts a hand to her eyes as she becomes fully aware of the pain in her shoulder now. When she brings her hand down to eye Regina she notices blood on her palm. Before she can ask where it's from Regina is already ready to answer. "You... you may have bumped your head as well. That would be why you've been unconscious." She says with a load of sarcasm and a sneer. "That happens when you meddle Dear." She adds with a grin.

Mary Margaret only rolls her eyes much like her daughter would and she tries once more to sit up. "Oh..." She grumbles at the pain.

"You never listen do you?" Regina says to the woman who puts her head back down in her lap. "I can set it for you if you like?" She offers and puts out her hand allowing a purple glow to emanate from it.

"No!" The younger woman flinches. "Don't... use your magic on me. I'm fine. I'll... I'll get someone to help me set it when they... when the others get here."

"_If_ they get here. It's been a good half hour or so already." Regina says with a shrug.

"I can't believe you just left them." Mary Margaret says in exasperation as she tries to touch her damaged shoulder with her other hand.

"I offered to get you out of harm's way. Is this not something that you good people do?" She asks as she looks down to eye the young woman. "My mistake. I'll remember that for next time."

"I wouldn't have needed to be taken out of the way if you hadn't have struck me..." She starts to argue but Regina interrupts.

"If you would learn to mind your own business you wouldn't have been hurt. I didn't invite you to the fight. You could have kept out of it but you just love to jump in to the thick of things don't you?" Regina says but her voice is lacking its normal bite. It comes across as more of a motherly scolding than cruel contempt.

"I was just trying to keep you and Gold from hurting each other. It makes no sense for us to be fighting each other when we are all here for the same reason, to get Henry back." Mary Margaret offers as she looks up angrily meeting Regina's eyes.

Regina just rolls her eyes. "As I've said before... I can handle Gold." She says quietly then she feels the younger woman shiver. She lets out a sigh and purses her lips as she tucks her hands under the other woman's arms and pulls her so that her back is leaning up against her chest.

"What are you doing?" Mary Margaret asks nervously.

"You're shivering... probably from lying on the humid ground in the shade of these trees. I've already broken your arm and knocked you unconscious. I don't need to give you or your family any more reason not to trust me." She says quite bitterly and when her hand touches the dislocated shoulder she feels the younger woman tense in her arms. "I tried to heal this but you didn't let me so now you just have to deal with it." She says sternly.

Mary Margaret hisses at the new throbbing in her arm but is not put off enough to keep from replying. "You have such a wonderful bedside manner."

"There's that wit. I finally see where Emma gets that from." She offers drolly and Mary Margaret only chuckles lowly.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The two women sit in silence where only the chattering of Mary Margaret's teeth can be heard every few minutes but finally the silence gets the better of Regina and she offers to strike up a conversation. "I am sorry about earlier. The... the whole _'my mother set us up'_ thing." She offers in a stutter as she adjusts a bit so the younger woman can sit up a bit more comfortably.

"It's fine. I just didn't behave well after that. I was... I mean it was childish of me to run off like that." She replies sheepishly. "I told you earlier we are far from 'I'm sorry' so I just... I need to get over it."

"Get over it? You do realize there are far more devious things that simply go beyond your comprehension don't you? I mean... that was just the tip of the iceberg as far as the things I've done to you." She says quite directly and she feels the younger woman slump slightly within her grasp.

"I do." Mary Margaret offers meekly as she lets out a tired yawn. "I know there are things you have yet to explain but... we don't have to get in to that now."

"What if I feel like I need to? What if there is something I really think you should know right now?" Regina insists.

"Do you work for Peter Pan?" She asks with a breath of a laugh.

"No..." Regina scoffs. "I do not work for Peter Pan." She says and then allows herself to smile at the thought of this.

"Well if it has nothing to do with what we're dealing with here then I don't think I need to know right now." Mary Margaret offers calmly.

"What if it's something that I didn't even realize I did... I mean... well obviously I knew but..." She tries to explain.

"Look, I'm sure whatever it is can wait. I just... I really don't want to go there right now so just let it go for the time being." She offers tiredly.

Regina takes a moment to let this sink in. "Alright." She relents.

"I think if you give me time I'll even be okay with whatever it is you want to tell me." Mary Margaret offers in the most optimistic of ways.

"I seriously doubt that." Regina says sadly which causes the younger woman to twist in her arms slightly as if she thinks she might gain eye contact but her injury simply prevents this from happening. "Stop that." She insists. "You're going to hurt yourself." She says and she forcefully pulls the woman to her to keep her from moving around.

Mary Margaret gives up in her attempts to look the woman in the eye so she leans back further to rest her head on Regina's shoulder. "I don't know why I was so shocked about all that anyway. I mean... it makes sense that your mother started it all."

"Yes well I'm sure if the tables were turned I would have reacted the same way. I guess we'll never really know what her intentions were." Regina offers quietly but then there is still something about this woman's current behavior that bothers her. She thinks on it for a moment and then asks, "How are you... I mean..." She pauses a moment to think of how to word her question. "No one is that forgiving. How are you so... so casual about this now? Is it because of your injury? Are you simply giving up fighting with me now?"

Mary Margaret laughs as she shakes her head. "No." She says with a smile now. "Emma... when she came after me she gave me a pretty good talking to."

"Oh I see..." She says with a nod.

"She told me that if we really intend to help you overcome that darkness you've lived with I can't run away every time you reveal something to me. Then we'll never get anywhere." She laughs as she reveals this. "Which is true. While she is right about a lot of things she can be so mean to me." She says with a smile.

"So I've noticed. I guess that comes from a lifetime living as an orphan." Regina suggests sadly. "If I had not cast the curse..." She tries to explain but Mary Margaret has her own words to finish that thought with.

"Then I never would have met her. Regina I am responsible for Emma being sent away... not you. So you can take that off your list of evil deeds. You didn't do that to her I did."

"Yes but regardless of who sent her away I cast that curse and kept you from being with her for twenty eight years. That... that _is_ my fault. If I hadn't have threatened you all with that curse to begin with you wouldn't have thought to send her away." Mary Margaret smiles to herself and remains quiet which only bothers Regina for some reason. She leans forward to try and gauge the younger woman's expression. "Really... you have nothing to say to that?"

Mary Margaret laughs, "I'm proud of you?" She says in a question.

Regina huffs. "Oh please..." She says sarcastically.

"You just took the blame or more importantly you took responsibility for your own actions." She says reassuringly. "So yes... I'm proud of you but you do realize if Emma had not gone through that wardrobe she would not have met Neal and Henry would not exist."

"Yes but... if I had never cast the curse I wouldn't have... have killed my own father." Regina confesses in a whisper.

"You killed your father?" She asks in disbelief.

"To enact the curse... it required... it required the heart of the person I loved the most. At that time he was the only person I loved." She admits with a cold shiver of her own but then she clears her throat. "The only reason I lost everything was because I destroyed it myself." She shakes her head. "I'm a monster." She whispers.

Mary Margaret reaches out with her good arm to take Regina's hand in hers and hold it tightly to her. "You were..." She says and takes a deep breath before releasing it in a sigh. Trying not to react emotionally was proving to be quite a task for the younger woman. "That's who you used to be. You aren't that person anymore." She simply does not sound too sure of herself as she says these things. "... and I'm sorry about your father."

Regina flinches at hearing this thoughtful comment and it proved to be a problem as it caused her to suddenly blurt out, "Not as sorry as I am about yours."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Regina had not meant to touch on the subject of King Leopold after Mary Margaret had specifically said she did not want to address anymore faults or shortcomings of the past but with the way they were so openly sharing at the moment it was hard to fight the thoughts swirling at the surface.

"I imagine that is something we both had in common." Mary Margaret offers. "We both had really wonderful and loving fathers."

"Yes... well..." Regina doesn't know what to say so she says nothing. She hopes that the subject will be dropped because she does not want to have to explain herself, to explain how in some sort of act of desperation she basically carried out an execution on the woman's father.

"Your father, he was a kind and loving man. I remember that much. I... I honestly had no idea he was your father with the way he served as your valet." She suggests in a curious tone.

"He... he always put my life ahead of his. He was... he was a very hopeful and optimistic man... always going on about how I could be happy if I would let myself. I..." She trails off unable to bear the subject of her own father any longer. She sniffles to herself and moves the woman to lie down beside her so that she may stand and collect herself.

"Regina?" Mary Margaret calls after her in confusion.

Regina clears her throat and turns away to wipe under her eyes. "Should they have taken this long to come find us?" She asks, her voice taking on a higher pitch than normal as she tries to get a hold of her emotions.

"I suppose they ran in to some trouble... or they are waiting until there is better light out. The sun seems to be setting quickly." She lets out a heavy sigh and a small whimper which does not go unnoticed by the older woman.

She moves back to kneel beside her and reaches out to grab at her good arm. "Are you alright?"

"No... no I'm not." She says simply. "My arm is killing me." She adds with a groan.

Regina puts the back of her hand up to the younger woman's forehead. "Yes... and you've broken out in a cold sweat." She says with a frown though it's hard to see as it has grown dark very quickly. "Just let me heal this for you."

"No. I really don't want you using your magic on me." Mary Margaret quietly pleads. "I can wait a while longer. I just... I need to sleep it off." She suggests humbly and the pain is evident in her voice.

Regina sighs. "You are so stubborn," She whispers angrily while rubbing at the woman's undamaged arm soothingly.

Mary Margaret laughs, "So I've been told." She can sense the weariness in the older woman though and suggests, "Maybe you should get some rest as well."

"I doubt I'll manage to sleep out here. I'm not like you." She says with a shake of her head. "Playing about in the woods was always your thing not mine."

"Still..." Mary Margaret starts to say and then coughs a bit from the moisture in the air. "You should at least lie down. Not to mention it's colder now."

"I would offer to make a fire but I don't think we want to call attention to ourselves that way... and you're so adamant about me not using my magic." Regina suggests.

"Which is why I am asking you to lie down, we can keep warm that way. It was working quite well before." She whispers quietly.

Regina does not reply but moves to lie down beside her. They remain quiet which Regina is now thankful for. Reflecting on what she had done to enact the curse was simply too much to dwell on. These last few hours had been nothing but a picking of old wounds and it was simply wearing her out but she was too much on edge in this unfamiliar place to allow sleep to take her over.

It does not take long for Mary Margaret to fall asleep leaving Regina to listen to the sounds of this place. The chirping of bugs, random howling of some unknown creatures, and the fact that it is almost pitch black only serve to get her heart thumping but that isn't watch jerks her to a sitting position.

The sound that startles her is Mary Margaret speaking casually in her sleep. "Father... I miss you..." She whispers and Regina gets angry. Of course this would be the last thing on her subconscious mind. Her earlier thoughts on her father were obviously producing this random conversation.

Mary Margaret takes in a sharp breathe and starts up in her one sided conversation again, "I don't understand why... you..." but she doesn't finish that statement and Regina starts to panic at the thought of what the woman's dream might entail. She didn't get the chance to explain herself earlier. She didn't get the chance to tell her about her own father's demise because it was asked of her to be 'let go' for the moment. How could she let it go now when the woman might very well be on her way to figuring this all out in her mind this very moment?

"No... don't... don't go. Please..." She quietly pleads in her sleep and then is starts, a tremble and she quietly sobs. Regina sighs and throws her gaze up towards what little stars she can manage to see, hopeful this whole scene is over and done with.

Mary Margaret gasps loudly and sits up, the motion causing some confusion on Regina's part as they bump into each other slightly causing the younger woman to lean on her injured arm. She cries out in pain and Regina goes to pull at her uninjured arm to help to ease her awake. "Shush now." She demands quite irritably. "You were... you were dreaming." She says in a startled stutter.

Mary Margaret sits still, breathing quite heavily, as she feels Regina's firm grasp on her arm. "Oh..." She says in realization as she sniffles a bit.

Regina puts out a hand in front of her so that a slight blue glow emanates and forms into a sort of orb. She gestures forward to set this glow afloat in midair and she turns to look the younger woman over. She furrows her brow and frowns when she sees the tear stained cheeks. None too gently she swipes the woman's cheek with the back of her hand to wipe away her tears. "Stop your crying." She demands coldly. "It was only a dream."

Mary Margaret smiles finding humor in how un-motherly Regina could be. "I'm sorry... I can't control what my dreams make me feel." She said with a shrug and that very shrug aggravates her injury so she winces.

"Yes... you're still hurt." Regina reminds her. "Why don't you lie back down and try getting back to sleep. You weren't out that long before you started up in your conversation... I mean..."

"I was talking in my sleep?" Mary Margaret asks quite curiously. "So you heard what I was dreaming about then?"

Regina frowns again. "I... yes... you were..." She shakes her head. "You were talking about your..."

"…my father?" She whispers in question.

"Yes it probably has to do with... with the fact that you brought him up before you fell asleep." Regina offers up quickly as an excuse.

"Actually you were the one who brought up my father... when I started talking about yours." Mary Margaret is quick to correct.

Damn this woman, always picking up on details. "Right... I... I guess... I guess I did do that..." and here it came, the words she didn't get to speak earlier now just on the tip of her tongue. "Earlier... when I tried to tell you something... something I thought you needed to hear you told me that if it had nothing to do with what we were dealing with now that I shouldn't tell you." She suggests. "I think... right now it most certainly has to do with what we're dealing with."

Mary Margaret is quiet as she tries to figure out where Regina is going with this, she squints her eyes as the blue glow still floats in front of them. "Alright then... what is it?" She asks with a tilt of her head.

"I..." Now was her chance to get this one thing off her chest so they could 'move on'. There really was no gentle way of putting this so she tries again. "Your..." and suddenly she's afraid and it's making her angry. What does she have to be afraid of... retaliation? Clearly she is the only one here with the upper hand. _'Just spit it out!'_ She thinks to herself. "Mary Margaret..." She starts to say and then she corrects herself. "Snow..." She says with a curt nod. "I wanted you to hear this from me." She explains. "It's about your father... and how he died." She says as she meets eyes with the woman.

Mary Margaret furrows her brow trying to piece together what little Regina has offered to her. "What?" She cautiously questions.

"I..." Regina can't say it now. Technically she didn't kill him but she didn't know how to explain what she had done and suddenly an expression of anguish appears on her face as she meets eyes with the younger brunette.

"You... you killed him didn't you?" Mary Margaret asks with wide eyes as her eyebrows shoot up.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"No... I mean... well not exactly." Regina hurries to reply hoping to keep this conversation from boiling over. She wanted to explain but couldn't find the words fast enough.

"You..." Mary Margaret says in an angry whisper. "You..." She can't even say what it is she means to say because she's already too riled up by this new revelation. She fumbles to get to a stand and throws a flat hand in to the glowing orb Regina had left floating beside them. This action causes the light to die out and she moves quickly to leave this space through the darkness.

Regina growls before she gets to a stand herself to call out after the other woman, "Running away? It's no wonder your daughter reacts this way, its second nature to you both... running the second things get to be too much!" Regina shouts in to the darkness then she hears the ferocious rustle of tree branches instantly knowing what direction the woman has run off to. "What about that pep talk she gave you huh?" Her voice breaking as she fights off angry tears. "The one she gave you about not running away from me every time I tell you something." She says breathlessly as she hurries to catch up with the woman.

Not too far ahead she hears a thud and a cry out in pain and she knows the woman has probably tripped and fallen on that dislocated arm. Again she conjures up a light and gestures for it to float in front of her so that she can see the woman scrambling to get to her feet once more but she's in too much pain to do so.

Regina rushes to her and proceeds to roll her over even as the woman cries out in anguish. She can't help the sudden sense of déjà vu that sweeps over her, remembering the night she chased a young Snow out of the stables, the night she shared that secret with this same woman when she was just a girl. She growls again trying push back those memories. She had to get this situation under control or else they might get discovered by the wrong entities.

Mary Margaret tries to push Regina away from her as she comes to lie on her back. She's gasping and not bothering to hold back her tears. Anger is clearly expressed in her actions as she thrashes and continues to bat away Regina's hands.

"Oh for heaven's sake!" Regina barks out through clenched teeth. "Stop this! Stop fighting me! You're acting like a child... I'm trying to help you!" She insists as she forcefully grabs at the good arm and jerks the woman to get her attention. "I know you're upset!" She yells at her once more. "I know…" She trails off and she watches as Mary Margaret continues to cry as she now rests on her back.

Regina watches with a cringe as the woman's body wracks with each sob that escapes her, her own eyes filled with unspent tears. She inhales sharply as she tries once more to speak to the woman. "I… I did not _murder_ your father. I mean… I was still responsible for his death yes but... well I can't take that back." She whispers as she reaches out to grab a hold of the uninjured arm. "I swear to you I didn't do that to hurt you. It… I know it doesn't excuse what I did. I was still the reason he died but… I…" She sighs and lowers her head. What did it matter now of the details? Her point was made, she had now confessed.

Mary Margaret remains silent as Regina tries to explain but she simply is not in a mood to put Regina at ease. She did not feel the least bit sorry for her right now. Dealing with an injury seemed like nothing at this moment. Her father, the only other person who mattered to Snow White back then, had been dealt a death sentence by Regina.

Regina finally lifts her head to look the woman's face over. "I know you will never be able to forgive me for that." She says shaking her head but Mary Margaret does not reply, she simply stares up in to the night and she continues to breathe erratically. The pain in her arm is too much and she winces as she removes her uninjured arm from within Regina's grasp to touch at her now aggravated injury. Regina takes notice of this. "If you're not going to speak to me at least let me heal you now. You're in pain." No reply, not even an argument. "If you intend to run off and leave me behind here at least you might do so without hurting yourself further." Still Mary Margaret does not speak. Too tired to argue she simply lifts her chin so that she cannot see Regina and the older woman takes this as a sign of surrender.

Regina reaches out to the dislocated shoulder and conjures her magic. Her hand glows with a purple hue and she grabs a firm hold of the younger woman's shoulder. Mary Margaret shuts her eyes tightly and flinches but holds in any cry she might want to release. There is a subtle pop as the younger woman's shoulder is magically set back in to place and once set she does not hold in her pained filled whimpers.

"I'm sorry…" Regina whispers to her as she still holds on to the woman. "I'm sorry…" She says again but it's not clear if she means for the pain in healing her or the fact that she confessed to arranging her father's death.

Even though she appears to be healed Regina does not release her hold on the once injured arm. She feels that if she let's go the woman might make a run for it and no one needed to be lost tonight, not in a land quite foreign to both of them.

Still proving to be quite the stubborn one Mary Margaret does not speak nor does she meet Regina's eyes in the dim light of that blue orb that still hovers close by. She does however continue to shed tears though they are not accompanied by any sobs to indicate whether it is due to physical pain but Regina cannot be sure of that without asking. "I know you don't want to talk to me but… how is your arm now?"

"It's fine." She replies in an angry mutter.

"Good." Regina says politely with a nod but still she does not release her hold. She does something rather unexpected instead. She starts rubbing circles with her thumb in to the once wounded arm. It might be from her years raising Henry that she first picked up this sort of timid gesture of comfort but it was really all she had to offer at the moment.

_'Henry'_ she thinks to herself. He had changed her life completely. Here she was the Queen of a long forgotten land who had now raised a boy as her own son appropriately naming him after the last person she ever loved. She had hoped that Henry would be someone who might fill that void the darkness of magic had once created and while at first he did fill some sort of space in her heart the older he got the more she was reminded of how difficult it was to win over the heart of someone else without taking it by force.

Regina's musings are interrupted as Mary Margaret grabs at Regina's hand that is still touching her shoulder. "I told you I'm fine." She mutters angrily. "You can let go of me now."

"If I let go of you you're just going to run off again." She says simply and then she unintentionally jerks in shock when the younger woman's eyes dart to meet her own. Her face scrunches in confusion and she looks away uncomfortably.

"You're afraid I'll leave you?" Mary Margaret asks skeptically.

"Yes." Regina says not sure why this is so shocking to the younger woman.

"I'm not leaving you behind Regina." The woman says, her voice still proving how irritated she still is by everything that has just happened.

"Really… so what was that back there? Just heading out for a midnight run?" She asks with a quizzical tilt of her head. "You were running away and angry or not... I will not let you leave me."

Mary Margaret raises her eyebrow at this. Regina really was afraid to get left behind. Since when did she start having abandonment issues? "Well I'd say I promise not to but I'm sure you'll just comment on how my promise holds no value to you so all I can say is I'm not going leaving you. I'm not talking to you about any of this either so just... put that light out and get some rest. We'll head out to look for the others at first light." She suggests and with a jerk she pulls her shoulder from within Regina's grasp to roll over.

Regina sits and watches as the other woman settles in. It wasn't simply the idea of being abandoned; it was the fact that this land was one she had never visited before. In fact the only other time Regina had ever been this worried about getting left behind was when she went to Wonderland to retrieve her father. The idea of getting abandoned in a world in which she did not have the upper hand made that a place she did not want to be left behind. She stuck close to Jefferson then, practically clung to him, knowing the instant he figured out her own plan to abandon him he might do that to her instead. With this in mind as she starts to lie down she reaches over and grabs a fistful of the woman's coat and merely hangs on.

Mary Margaret leans her head up to look back over her shoulder. "What... are you doing?" She asks uncomfortably.

"Nothing! Just... go to sleep." Regina says with as much bite a she can muster hoping this will keep any further questions at bay.

Mary Margaret turns back around and cannot help but smile to herself supposing this is some sort of coping mechanism. As long as they didn't have to talk or argue for the rest of the night she was willing to let this uncharacteristic action slide.

The blue orb fades in to nothing and the two woman fall asleep without any further sleep talking or haunting revelations of the past.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Mary Margaret is the first to stir from her slumber. She leans her head up and in the dim light of the dawn tries to get a better sense of their surroundings. She looks down to find that somewhere in the night Regina lost grip of her coat and instead linked her arm with Mary Margaret's. She sits up and looks down at the woman. "So... the Evil Queen is afraid to get left behind." She whispers. "I did not see that one coming." She says again to herself.

She takes a deep breath of air in an attempt to wake herself up and she decides that there is not going to be any good outcome of waking the woman. She watches the pained features of the older woman. Even at rest her face still expressed such disdain. Mary Margaret cannot help but laugh at this.

Suddenly the thoughts of what transpired between them last night hit her. Regina had confessed to being behind her own father's death. It is true that while Regina did not carry out a murder her father was still dead because of this woman. It wasn't going to be about forgiving her at this point. It was simply too much to ask at the moment and really Mary Margaret did not want to hear what sort of lame excuse the woman might come up with for she was after all so quick to blame everyone for things that were her own doing.

Sure Regina suggested she was responsible. Sure she may have said she was sorry even, but this went beyond any broken promise or cursed life. This was about her father who had done nothing to warrant such an untimely death. She supposed it lucky though that Regina was never one to seek out forgiveness and maybe pretending to take the high road would be Mary Margaret's best defense just so they could work to get Henry back home.

She takes another moment to watch the woman as she sleeps before she gives her a shove. "Regina." She says in a loud whisper. "Regina wake up." She calls out again shaking her a bit too violently. So maybe she couldn't cope without releasing a little anger.

Regina gasps and furrows her brow at such a rude awakening. "Morning…" She says groggily to the younger woman knowing full well there will not be a reply.

"We need to get moving." Mary Margaret says as she gets to a stand not bothering to offer the other woman a hand up.

Regina rolls her eyes at this. It made sense now to see this side of Mary Margaret for she had after all raised her grandson. Henry proved to be more like his birth relatives everyday and Regina hated seeing the proof. She was used to being cast aside by the boy, treated as second best. In fact when she started this whole reform for him it took her by complete surprise when the boy started to show her more affection than he ever had.

His hugs were so foreign. His smiles had never been sent in her direction before. His enthusiasm was lost to her long ago so seeing Mary Margaret act as Henry once did was all too familiar. She would simply have to take this in stride. She would help to get Henry back, they would go home, and all of this would be over.

Regina follows behind the younger woman at a safe comfortable distance. It isn't until she seems lost that she decides to speak to her. "Your late night run sent us further in to this jungle than where we started." She says with a frown. "Which way do you suppose we should go?" She offers with a knowing smirk.

"Beach..." Mary Margaret mutters angrily. "The beach," She clarifies when she hears Regina scoff at her one worded answer. "I can hear it from here we just need to head towards it." So she leads them further on, straining to make out the correct direction but then a different sound startles her to a stop causing Regina to run in to her.

"What is it?" Regina asks angrily as she attempts to set herself straight.

"Shush." Mary Margaret whispers back angrily as she tries to listen again. There's a slight void in the sounds she had been hearing before which only sufficed to say that, "Someone's coming." She turns her head to whisper.

Regina's eyes widen as she takes a weary look around them and for some reason she decides to take the initiative and stand in front of Mary Margaret taking on quite the protective stance. This only causes Mary Margaret to let out a gasp of a laugh.

"I don't need you to protect me Regina." Mary Margaret says in exasperation.

"You don't know what is out there." Regina suggests angrily.

"I'm sure I can handle whatever it is." She argues as she sets her hands on her hips.

"Well I'm the only one here with magic..." Regina tries to rationalize as she mimics the woman's stance.

"I don't _need_ magic. I'm perfectly capable..."

"Oh my freaking God you guys!"Both women jump at hearing this. "It's a good thing there aren't any Ogre's in Neverland." Emma says as she comes in to view with David following closely behind.

Mary Margaret sighs in relief and happily makes her way over to embrace Emma. "I'm so glad to see you." She whispers to Emma. "I was worried."

"Not as worried as we were knowing you were alone out here with Regina." Emma says with a smirk as she meets eyes with the woman in question. Regina is not amused.

Mary Margaret pulls out of the embrace but keeps a hold of Emma by her wrists. She frowns as she takes in the sight of her. Emma has a gash on her chin and a hint of a bruise on her cheek, and other visible scrapes no doubt from the scuffle on board the Jolly Roger. "Look at you…" She says in a gasp.

Emma laughs as she moves out of the way so that David may embrace his wife. "Trust me... you should see the other guys." He offers with a hearty chuckle.

"Speaking of battle scars… which we weren't but…" Emma says as she eyes both brunettes carefully. "I see your arm is fine." She says as her eyes only narrow.

Mary Margaret frowns and averts her eyes to indicate she does not wish to speak about that at the moment. Regina decides to take it upon herself to change the subject and ask, "Where are Hook and Gold?"

At this David pulls away slightly from his wife. "Hook put up a good fight but we think he may have been taken hostage. Gold managed to pop me and Emma on to dry land when the group started to advance on us and... well... we're not sure where he disappeared to. We did our best to pick up on the trail that Hook and his captures left behind but we lost sight of them as it grew darker."

"What sort of shape is Hook's ship in?" Mary Margaret asks.

"It's fine. They just… sort of… set it adrift." Emma says with a shrug. "Why?"

"I think we need to head back there." She suggests.

"To do what exactly?" Emma asks curiously.

"I just think we need a safer place than this mysterious jungle to regroup that's all." She says in her ever peppy Mary Margaret voice.

"I hate when you revert to your cursed persona…" Emma starts to say with a roll of her eyes. "Is Snow White gonna come out and visit anytime soon? We could really use that warrior within."

Mary Margaret grins feigning her annoyance. "Where does this sarcasm come from? Was I ever like that?" She turns to ask David as they all walk down an undecided path towards the beach. He grins but does not reply simply throwing an arm over his wife's shoulder and leading her away.

"We should probably be asking Regina. I bet she has a story or two." Emma says comically as she walks ahead of everyone, no one noticing the twin cringes that appear on both brunettes' faces at the thought of sharing more stories.

They make it out of the thicket of greenery and find themselves on the sands of a small beach. Off in the distance just far enough away from the jagged rocks below the cliffs floats the Jolly Roger. Again it is Emma and her sarcastic tone that speaks up, "So how do you suppose we get out there? Is Regina gonna poof us out there or...?"

"No. No magic." Mary Margaret is quick to supply.

At this Regina rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over herself, "Well if you intend to swim then by all means lead the way." Mary Margaret throws Regina a glare over her shoulder.

David is quick to pull his wife aside and whisper to her, "I'm not sure where all this anti-magic stuff is coming from but if Regina wants to help us then let her. You're the one who wanted to keep her included." Mary Margaret only frowns. "What happened to you two out here?" He asks turning to take a hold of the woman by her shoulders when she will not meet his gaze.

"Nothing I want to talk about right now." She mutters irritably.

Emma walks over to Regina as her parents talk. "I'm sensing you both had some sort of a breakthrough in our absence?"

"Yes well… your pep talk on the ship did not seem to stick." Regina says with a raise of her brow. "I think I've learned that the compulsion to run away is genetic."

"Ah…" Emma says in realization.

"So it seems I owe you an apology for that time I suggested you never seemed to stay in one place long enough to grow roots. You couldn't help it." Regina says with a grin full of mirth.

"Yeah…" Emma frowns not sure if this is Regina trying to be friendly or another of her wonderful mind games but she changes the subject. "Anyway…" She says in a drawl. "Do you think you can get us all back on that ship?"

"I'd love to have you think I could attempt such a feat but no. I cannot send all of us at the same time… which is why when the ship was being taken over I offered to take your mother." Regina explains.

Emma smiles at hearing Regina say this. The idea of Regina the Evil Queen offering to whisk Snow White away to safety might be ridiculous if she had been a non-believer. "Wait a minute. I thought you were some sort of powerful witch… what gives?"

"When you have Rumplestiltskin as a teacher it sort of makes you want to go the independent learning route. His methods took far too long for my tastes and so I didn't pick up as much as I should have." Regina says as she grows aggravated with the blonde's line of questioning. "Look… Emma…" She takes a deep breathe to keep herself from speaking out in bitterness at the sudden label of 'witch'. "Back at the mines I could not contain that fail safe, not without your help, and the truth is you did most of the work."

Emma quirks a brow, "I did?"

"Yes… you did." She says with a firm nod. "I spent almost an hour or so trying to contain that fail safe. You jumped in to help and not two minutes later you didn't just contain it you reset it. It was as if it had never been activated." She says and when Emma does not get the point fast enough Regina sums it up for her. "You are more powerful than you know." She says in a quiet voice meeting eyes with the blonde.

She listens carefully to Regina and it isn't just about what she is saying but how she is saying it. It was almost as if she cannot believe even after seeing with her own eyes which was a feeling Emma herself was quite familiar with.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"Do you think maybe you could... teach me... how to..." Emma starts to ask uncertain of how to word her request. "Disappear?"

"I don't think your mother will appreciate that." Regina says in a grumble as she throws a quick glance to where Mary Margaret still stands with David.

"She's not the boss of me." Emma says much like a defiant teenager, though she is clearly joking, and after a moment she suggests, "It might be useful... especially since Gold has seemed to have abandoned us and he _was_ the one who got me and David off the ship in the first place."

Regina purses her lips as she considers this proposal. It would be a benefit to have Emma, at the very least, attempt to use her magic if they were going to get Henry out of here safely. Before Regina has the chance to comment on Emma's request Mary Margaret walks over to them.

"It's fine Regina. If you think you can teach her then... go ahead." She shrugs not wishing to speak further on this as she feels it is a bad idea already but David was right. It had been her idea to include Regina in their efforts so here was a chance for that.

Regina responds in kind with a firm nod and makes a suggestion to Emma. "First things first, before you can disappear with someone in tow you need to learn how to do so on your own."

David finds a tree a safe distance away and sits down at the base of it. Mary Margaret soon joins him to look on during this impromptu magic lesson.

Regina takes a few steps closer to Emma and the sudden invasion of personal space causes the blonde to lean away. It isn't until Regina throws a glance out of her peripheral vision that she understands that she is trying to speak in confidence. "I'm going to assume that Gold might have mentioned something to you about using your magic." She suggests quietly. Emma nods in response. "So you know it isn't so much a thinking process as it is emotional?"

Again Emma nods but she whispers, "Yeah… It's about the only magic lesson I've had so far."

Regina gives a quick look over her shoulder to Mary Margaret and David before facing Emma once more. "I just want to be sure you understand this before I attempt to coach you. I can't say I am anymore patient that Rumple might have been." She offers.

"Alright… so... what do I do?" Emma asks wearily.

"Your objective is to get from where we stand to the other end of the beach..." She turns around and gestures behind her, "Just down there." She frowns as she gets very close to Emma so that she may say just above a whisper, "I need you to listen to me. No matter what I say or do… or how your parents react you continue until your objective is complete. Do you understand me?" She asks.

"Are you saying this will get ugly?" Emma asks with a tilt of her head as she eyes the woman.

"It might." She suggest with a nod. "I have never attempted to teach magic before so I can only teach you the way that I learned and there wasn't anything pleasant about that experience. They're probably going to interfere." She says gesturing with a thumb over her shoulder. "Actually I can almost guarantee _she_ will." She says with a slight grin. "It's in her nature to meddle after all." She says with a shrug. She walks some distance away from Emma before she turns back about. "Are you ready?"

"Sure. Let's do this." Emma says with a quirky expression still uncertain of what she has just agreed to.

Regina gathers a blast of magic in her hand, she brings her hand back as if she were about to throw a baseball, and she sends it so that is strikes just beside Emma who jumps.

"What the hell?!" Emma blurts as she lifts a leg away from the spot in the sand that had been struck. David and Mary Margaret jump to their feet at seeing this.

"Miss Swan?" Regina asks as she starts to form a new burst in her hand. "Did you not understand when I told you that your goal was down the beach behind me?" She pauses a moment and as a smirk plays on her lips she adds, "You did say you were ready."

"Yeah... ready for you to teach me not ready for you to attack me!" The blonde practically shrieks.

"You didn't expect it to be such a simple task did you? I am the obstacle. Your goal is simply to get past me. So get moving." She says as she draws back and strikes the sand again.

Emma flinches and Mary Margaret moves towards them. "Regina!" She calls out in warning. "What are you doing?" She demands.

"I'm in the middle of a lesson Dear. Please... stay back." Regina says as she uses her magic to shove Mary Margaret away.

"Regina!" Emma now shouts in warning at the woman.

"I am the obstacle." Regina reminds her with a shake of her head. "Those were warning shots Miss Swan. I suggest you get to work if you plan to make it past me." She says as she steps closer and forms a new burst of her magic but rather than attempt the task at hand Emma makes a run towards Regina who only shoves her to the sand with her magic. "No Dear, you are taking this far too personal. Your objective is to avoid me by disappearing to the other side of this beach not engage in combat." She says with another shake of her head.

Regina can sense it she knows defiance when she sees it after all, so she calls out to Emma. "Don't let your anger get the best of you here. Concentrate... you need to avoid me." She says this as she does her best to keep her composure. The way Emma stood before her, her teeth grit, and her cheeks reddening as her anger rose only reminded her of a young Snow White.

Anger was not the best emotion to use for this sort of task. She suddenly turns around and in an attempt to change her tactics she magically sends Mary Margaret down the beach where she intended Emma to go. To make her point she looks back over her shoulder at Emma, and with a menacing grin she once again conjures a blast of magic. She turns back around to face Mary Margaret and pulls her hand back but before she can strike the woman Emma appears between them and the three women gasp in surprise. Regina soon allows that burst of magic to dissipate in her hands.

David runs to his wife. "That was totally uncalled for!" He says as he takes a protective hold of Mary Margaret now.

"She needed the right motivation." Regina says. "I started her off on the wrong path from the get go by making her angry. What I needed was for her to feel… to have that need, the desire, to protect. That was actually too easy. I should have thought of that first." She says as she meets eyes with Emma and barely allows a smile to grace her features. "Not bad for my first lesson." She remarks now with a bright smile.

"Yeah yeah..." Emma grumbles not wanting to give Regina any credit. "You're lucky it worked." She says bitterly as she mindlessly paces for a moment.

Regina allows the blonde to collect herself, watching her pace, trying to let her anger leave her. "So now that you know what it feels like... try to replicate it." She suggests.

Emma nods and stares down at the sand. She takes a few breathes and tries to remember what it was she had felt before she suddenly vanished and reappeared. She simply stares in the same spot in the sand but when that does not work she shuts her eyes. Then it dawns on her that there are three sets of eyes staring at her. She can sense it. She can sense their anxiousness which only allows her own to build. An audience was not at all helpful and so she does not succeed. She opens her eyes to meet Regina's questioning gaze. "I... I can't do it with everyone watching." She offers with some awkwardness.

They all share in a chuckle but politely turn away so that Emma can try again. After a moment of silence Regina sees Emma suddenly appear on the opposite side of the beach. She smiles at the blonde. It felt like some small accomplishment to have managed to teach someone something in the way of magic. "Alright then..." Regina starts to say as Emma makes her way back to the group. "I'll take your father to the ship. You... try to take your mother." Thinking it the best choice since her mother could probably motivate her properly.

"Do I have to hang on to her or... how does that work?" Emma asks in confusion.

"With practice you won't need to but for now... yes... you probably should. You've got the idea. You know how it feels to move from one place to another and now you just need to go a little further. You have spent enough time on that ship to know a safe place to reappear without having to actually see it first so... think of where you want to appear on the ship. You did spend some time on the main deck so I would say make that your goal." Regina explains as she moves over to stand next to David. "Do you want to try first or should we wait for you onboard?" She asks eyeing the blonde. Either way she knew it was a bit of a stretch to expect Emma to do this right the first time.

"No... you go I... I need a moment." She says as she laughs nervously. Regina nods in understanding. She gestures with her arms and envelopes both herself and David in to a cloud of smoke before appearing on the main Deck of the Jolly Roger.

Mary Margaret takes this moment to hold on to her daughter by the arm. "You sure you can do this?"

"No." She says in a defeated mutter. "Especially not if you don't have faith in me." She says with a cringe.

"I have complete faith in you. I do." She says in what she hopes is a reassuring voice.

"Do you think it'll still work if you hang on to me? I mean she said I should probably hang on to you but what if I let go?" Emma asks.

"We won't know until you try. It'll be fine." She says with a nod. "Go ahead Emma. You can do this. It's not that far." She says with a small smile.

Emma shuts her eyes afraid she'll lose focus if she concentrates on her mother's facial expressions for too long. She tries to remember the main deck of the Jolly Roger. She remembers where she had stood when the ship was being taken over. She senses that familiar feeling of magic running its course through her body and then her thoughts take a slight detour as she realizes that her magic seems to only work when she's protecting someone. Should she be concentrating on getting Mary Margaret safely onboard or worrying about not drowning should she fail? Then it happens, the sound of water in sloshing waves fills her ears and Emma gets a sense that she's drowning.

The waves bash her about and she can't find it in her to open her eyes. She swallows some sea water and tries to figure out which way is up. She only ends up deeper in to the water. She panics and swallows more water. If she were up top she would more than likely be gasping for air but this was serious. Was her mother out here drowning with her? At this thought she opens her eyes finally, the burn of salt water hits her, and she searches but sees nothing but murky darkness. She swims about aimlessly and soon she is caught in a current. She fights with all her might trying to figure out which way is up so that she can take in some air but the current is too strong. She's about to give up in her struggle when she feels a set of strong arms wrap around her.

She's in and out of consciousness and only manages to hear the panicked mutter of her own name, "Emma? Emma, are you okay? Can you hear me?" and though she can hear this she is met with a sudden darkness.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"What happened?!" Mary Margaret asks as she rushes over to David as he makes his way up the side of the ship with Emma in tow. "Why didn't she make it?"

"She may have panicked." Regina says as she moves to help retrieve Emma from David while Mary Margaret helped to pull David to a stand.

"Is she breathing?" David asks in a panic as he moves to kneel down beside his daughter. "Emma? Emma, are you okay? Can you hear me?" He asks as she puts a hand beneath her nose. When he does not feel her breathing he makes an attempt to revive her but Regina pushes at his shoulder to get him to move away.

"Let me." Regina says very adamantly. She conjures her magic and as it sweeps over Emma she does not wake but she does inhale deeply with her eyes still shut.

"Emma?" Mary Margaret calls now as she too kneels down with the rest of them. "She's breathing now..." She points out, "but why isn't she waking?"

"Just give her some time... she'll come around." Regina says as she gets to a stand.

David goes to gather Emma up in his arms and leads them to the sleeping quarters of the ship where he lays her in the closest bunk.

Mary Margaret goes to pull a quilt from the shelving nearby and throws it over Emma once David has her settled in. She tucks the blanket under her daughters chin before she turns to face Regina. "I shouldn't have let you try to teach her. Magic is an evil thing that causes nothing but pain and misery." She says quite fiercely.

Regina frowns at how childish this statement sounds. "Not all magic is evil incarnate Mary Margaret." She says rather sarcastically. "Do you remember what I told you when you were a little girl?" Mary Margaret only furrows her brow angrily. "Love... true love is like magic, the most powerful magic of all. Your daughter..." She says as she splays a hand out before her "Is made of that very magic… pure and incredibly powerful." She meets eyes with the younger woman once more. "Magic only becomes evil when the intentions behind it are evil." Not loving the taste of the words she just spoke she cringes ever so slightly.

Mary Margaret notices that cringe but does not speak on that, instead she asks, "Then what went wrong? Why did I make it and not her?"

"You can't expect it to come so naturally to her when she only just realized she has magic. Even though she was born of it or with it…" Regina starts to say uncertain of which it is exactly. "I'm sure it requires just as much practice as someone who is taught." Regina offers with a casual shrug. "If you really want an explanation as to what went wrong you can ask her when she wakes." Regina suggests as she quickly makes her way out of the sleeping quarters, not only to put some much needed distance between herself and the other brunette but to give the woman a moment alone with her family.

She makes her way out to the main deck searching out the beach they had just come back from. "True love is like magic..." Regina whispers to herself and then lets out a deep sigh. "I was such a fool back then…" She admits aloud to herself. "A fool in love." She says now as a smile forms on her lips. So caught up in her thoughts is she that she does not notice David looking on in both awe and confusion.

David had seen many sides of Regina but here watching her smile to herself was both comforting and a bit discomforting. He was used to seeing her enraged, maybe even smug or defiant. He had seen her in pain and nearly broken the day Daniel was brought to life running amuck in Storybrooke. He had seen Regina in a nearly desperate display back as David Nolan when she tried but failed to seduce him, something he had yet to tell Mary Margaret, but to see Regina smile at the moment he could not help but wonder, "Should I be worried?"

The smile fades instantly at the sound of his voice. Her eyes widen as she tries to collect herself. "What are you referring to?"

"I was just wondering if the smile was due to plotting or something else entirely." David is careful to say keeping his voice light and as upbeat as he can manage.

Regina lets out a breath and gives him a sad smile. "Calm down Prince… I am not plotting anything. I mean where has any of that really gotten me?"

"So it was the recalling of a memory then." He suggests with a nod as he steps closer. "Smiling suits you Regina… I'll admit it did catch me off guard but it's nice to see." He says as honestly as he can if only to keep this conversation light and pleasant as he was far from trusting her anytime soon.

"Yes well… very few of my memories are cause for smiling." She says as she lowers her gaze to the floor of the deck.

David watches her as she makes her way to sit down on a crate nearby. "Care to share?"

Regina grins and does not hesitate to reply, "Those words I just shared with Mary Margaret… I told her the same thing when she was just a little girl but they weren't my words." She says with that same fond smile she expressed earlier. "Those were the same words Daniel once said to me." Tears form in her eyes. "At the time… I believed it for all it was worth." She smiles sadly now.

Back in the sleeping quarters Mary Margaret has taken the liberty of settling in to sit up against the bunk where Emma lay so that she may keep her daughter's head resting in her lap. It wasn't so much to comfort her now but more for want of something to do to bide her time. She didn't want to go out to see Regina now, not after the things they've been through. She was quiet as David stood by and watched her and when it became apparent that she was not going to speak to him he took it upon himself to make his way out to the deck.

Emma slept quietly for some time and Mary Margaret simply stared down at her trying her best not to indulge in overly tender habits like running her hand through golden hair or rocking her in her arms. She knew that if Emma woke up to that she'd never hear the end of it. She smiles as she thinks of how Emma might react.

Since the curse broke she noticed how Emma was becoming more receptive to her touch. As a stranger she initially shied away from her "hands on" ways but once she got over the awkwardness of their unique situation she accepted these hugs and soothing motions of comfort more and more each day. Mary Margaret though, did not want to push her luck, so here she sits and watches. Suddenly she feels Emma's body jerk slightly and as she focuses on her now she hears her mumble something rather unintelligible. "Emma?" She calls to her but the blonde does not reply.

Emma does however speak more clearly in her sleeping state. "Then don't let go." She whispers in a gasp. Mary Margaret furrows her brow as she is unable to recall any sort of situation in which Emma might have said this. "I need you…" She suggests desperately and Mary Margaret now gets that sense of desperation in her daughter's voice. "I…" Her eyes pop open as she slightly lifts her head. "Was talking in my sleep apparently." She grumbles.

"I'm thinking that is something you might have inherited from your mother." Mary Margaret offers with a slight chuckle. "Are you alright?" She says as she reaches out to grab at Emma's shoulder.

"Yeah…" She says as she leans up on her elbow to look around. "What happened? Where are we?" She asks as she sits up straighter now and rubs a flat hand on her own chest.

Mary Margaret scoots closer to her to wrap her arms around Emma and pull her close. "You scared me." She says.

"I'm sorry…" She whispers as she rests her chin on her mother's shoulder before asking again, "but what happened?"

"You tell me." She suggests as she pulls back but still has a strong hold of Emma by her arms. "I landed on the deck and when I looked around you weren't there."

"Huh..." She offers in a huff. "I… I guess I just lost focus. I don't know… Did Regina say anything?"

"Only that I should ask you what happened but I think she just said that to get me off her back." Mary Margaret says with a little acidity in her voice.

"You didn't fight with her about this did you?" Emma asks in a whine. "I wanted her to teach me… It's not like she made me mess up." She is quick to point out.

"I know. I know. I didn't really… fight… with her about it. I just… I was upset. You almost drowned out there…" She starts to explain.

"… but I'm fine and it almost worked. I just need practice." She says as she meets eyes with her mother now. "Does it bother you that I have magic or are you just upset because of the simple fact that this is Regina trying to teach me how to use it?" Emma asks in a very challenging tone.

"I just don't like the idea of any of this. Magic… its… it never solves anything. Look at what I did with magic. I used that stupid candle and cursed Regina's mother. Someone died because of magic."

"What about when we were back in the enchanted forest? Back in Rumple's holding cell in the castle? You used that squid ink and got us out of there. That was magic. No one died then." She says with a bold shake of her head.

Mary Margaret rolls her eyes knowing where Emma is taking this conversation. "Okay Emma… I get it. Not all magic is evil incarnate." She repeats Regina's words to her daughter now. "I mean she did… help to revive you with it… sort of."

"She did?" Emma is quick to ask.

"Yes. David jumped in to pull you out of the water but you were not breathing. She pushed David away and… I don't know… she used her magic on you. You took in a breath but you didn't wake up."

Emma stares at the floor for a second and then asks, "She healed your arm too didn't she? I mean you didn't just get over that all by yourself now did you?"

"Yeah… but I never gave her permission to do so. After we… I mean… we got in to an argument." Mary Margaret offers with a shake of her head.

"More like you ran away from her… again." Emma suggest with a smile.

"You weren't there." She defends. "I didn't…" She lets out a sigh. "Okay fine… maybe I did run away."

"You both seemed to be getting along so well." She points out. "What the hell happened to you guys last night?" Emma asks.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Emma takes a moment to process the story Mary Margaret shares with her about how she ran away from Regina the night before and how the woman healed her arm possibly out of guilt after confessing to having her father killed so long ago.

"Can I ask you something?" Emma says as she stands up from the bunk to stretch her legs. Mary Margaret nods her consent. "Can you honestly tell me that you never suspected as much from Regina… that she might have been responsible for the death of your father?"

"There's a difference between suspecting and actually hearing someone say it to you. She… she could have been Queen and led a wonderful life. Why did she have to kill my father? What did he ever do to her? He was nothing but kind to her. All he wanted was for her to be his wife, to be my mother. How is that a terrible thing?" Mary Margaret asks.

Emma cannot help the slight chuckle that escapes her. "Look… you're still seeing this through the eyes of your old self. You're not a little kid anymore. I think you know better." She suggests as she meets eyes with her mother.

"What are you saying… that you condone what she did?" She starts to ask in disbelief. "She had your grandfather murdered. Does that mean nothing to you?"

Emma rubs the back of her neck and sighs. "All I'm saying is if you could put yourself outside the situation you'd get a little more perspective here. You told me that Daniel was killed right before her eyes by her own mother and because of that she went on to marry a man she did not love. You don't think that's a bit much to handle? I mean there doesn't seem to be a huge age difference between you and her. How old was Regina and how old were you when she married your father?"

"I don't know… twelve maybe and she might have been seventeen or eighteen. I don't really remember." Mary Margaret says shaking her head as she holds back tears not liking this scolding she seems to be getting. "What does this have to do with…"

"I just think you're not seeing the whole picture. I mean if there's one thing I've learned about Regina it's that she always… _reacts. _She doesn't initiate much of anything but she sure as hell is ready to react, maybe even overreact a little, to what people dish out to her. Something else you both seem to have in common." Emma says with an admonishing raise of her eyebrows while Mary Margaret frowns at the comparison. "You said that she confessed to having your father killed but did she explain to you why?"

"No she didn't… but what does that matter? What other explanation could she offer other than something about gaining power? She wanted to be Queen. She wanted to… to be in control." Mary Margaret says assured in her own words.

"I'm going to say that the only reason she didn't explain anything to you was because you ran away from her before she could." Emma says with a smile while Mary Margaret merely rolls her eyes. "One minute you want to let her in… the next you want to push her away… you're not making any freaking sense here." Emma says throwing her hands in the air. "You're making assumptions about her. That's all any of us ever do when it comes to Regina but I think if you really want to help her you're going to have to hear her out."

"I've tried. I've listened to a few of her horrible stories already…" She says with a pained grimace.

"Then try harder." Emma insists. "You remember… I wanted to run but you made me stay. You stopped me several times. Then I broke the curse and you all came to. I could have held so much over your head. I could have run away from it all but I had to let my petty issues go. I had to stay put because in the end the _who's_ and the _what's_ didn't matter. The fact was that I had found what I always wanted and here we are trying to keep that together… our family." She rolls her own eyes at how suddenly optimistic she sounds. "Just take it from me. You can't keep running away from her because all that does it give the problems between you two more time to fester. You're going to have to get over a lot real fast because if you keep this up… well you'll be stuck and we have too much to get through right now."

Mary Margaret smiles up at Emma and can't help the hiccupped laugh that slips past her lips. "Okay." She says in understanding. Her eyes well up with tears. "Will you stop scolding me now? Between you and Regina... I don't like this at all." She says with a whimper but she still smiles as she stands up in front of Emma.

"I'll stop…" Emma says smiling as she moves to hug the woman now. "When you stop acting like such a child." She laughs as she squeezes her mother a little tighter.

Up on the main deck Regina is mindlessly pacing while David sits on the steps leading to the forecastle deck watching her as she every so often wrings her hands together. He couldn't seem to figure the woman out. Not two seconds ago she was smiling fondly at what he learned was the thought of her beloved Daniel and his words on True Love. Now she seemed to be fidgety and avoiding any conversation but rather than address this anxiousness he thought it better to put her at ease with a more light hearted conversation. "So are you saying then that... you... doubt the truth of Daniel's words now?"

Regina stops pacing and turns about to meet the man's gaze. She took a moment to focus on his question as whatever it was running through her mind seconds before had been taking most of her attention. "I..." She shrugs and takes a few steps closer to the man who remained seated on those steps. "I don't have much reason to believe that any of that applies to me anymore." She says methodically. "True Love... it... it only happens once in a lifetime. You of all people should know this. You met Snow, you fell in love with her. Your love... it had to have been true from the start. I mean how else could you have felt it the instant that sleeping curse I gave her took over." She suggests with a slant of her head and purse of her lips.

"How did you know what I... what I felt?" He asks narrowing his eyes at the woman who is staring at the deck at her feet.

"I was... keeping watch over you." She says somewhat skittishly. "I wanted... well..." She shakes her head and looks up to the sky in frustration at having to offer something more in the way of confessions. "I wanted to be sure that you both suffered. I didn't want her to be happy and part of that laid in your suffering as well."

He shuts his eyes letting this sink in and through clenched teeth he mutters, "And what did I ever do to _you_?" He feels his anger boil up inside of him. He cannot help but get to his feet to meet her where she stands before him.

Regina rears back slightly, her eyes widening, her lips part as she lets out a surprised gasp. "Nothing... you..." She stutters. She shakes her head as she can't find an explanation right away. "You were... happy." She says with a pained grimace. "I... I didn't want Snow having the chance at a happy ending with her True Love. You were a victim of circumstance. Nothing more." She says through her teeth but she lacks her normal voice of contempt due to the rising fear that takes over. She had not been prepared for this man to lash out so suddenly.

David lifts his arm so that he may touch a hand to his forehead and he sees Regina flinch. Slowly he removes his hand from his forehead and narrows his eyes as he watches her reaction to this. "I'm not... going to hurt you." He says as his brow furrows in confusion at how she seems to cower before him. What would Regina have to fear from him? She had her magic to defend her didn't she? It was just very out of character for her to express fear in this way.

Regina straightens her back and attempts to school her features. She swallows and tries to express the anger she feels at his suggestion. "I didn't think you would." She says in a low voice lowering her gaze to the deck once more. "... but you have every right to be angry. I've... I've done so much to try to keep you two apart. I was jealous of her happiness. I was angry that she was getting the chance I never did. I just wanted everyone to suffer with me. I wasn't thinking straight." She says shaking her head. "I... all I ever did was react... badly at that." Her shoulders slump slightly and she exhales. "I'm sorry." Then she lifts her eyes to meet the man's gaze hoping that her words sound as real as they feel.

He takes a few slow steps towards her to reach out and take a hold of the woman by the shoulder. He squeezes her arm in some form of solidarity and she can't help but whimper as tears start to fall freely from her eyes. "Regina?" He whispers in question.

"I'm... I'm a mess right now." She says in a breathy laugh as she swipes under her eyes with her own finger.

"I can see that." David says as he too reaches out to wipe away a few errant tears from her cheek. "What's happening here? Did I really frighten you that badly?" He asks, the worry evident in his voice.

"No... it's not that." She says shaking her head as she pulls back from his grasp to turn away and collect herself. She sniffles a few times and then turns back to face him. "All of this... confessing... facing my past it's just... It's..." She exhales loudly trying to clear her mind.

"Overwhelming?" He suggests with a small smile. She nods in response. "I'm sure." He agrees.

"I did tell her... about her father." Regina says. "She... well she ran away from me but I did tell her at least."

"Oh... so is that what happened between you two?" He asks but it's more of a realization than a question.

"She... well we didn't talk about it much. She cried... I think I cried too. I'm not sure. There was... some yelling... involved. It was a mess." She says laughing while covering her eyes with one hand.

"It's a start though." He says. "You both have a lot to overcome. In time I'm sure you will... I mean if that's something you both truly want." He offers as he comes to stand beside her and rub her back soothingly. A woman in shambles was not something he could stand by and watch without attempting to console.

"Whether I want it or not... I think it's something that we both need." She says still keeping her eyes covered.

They are too caught up in the moment to notice Mary Margaret where she stands, her eyes glazed over, and a cheerless smile on her face.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Mary Margaret watches quietly wanting to give Regina the chance to calm down from whatever she was dealing with at the moment. She certainly can't blame David for wanting to console the woman as his heart is always in the right place but the fact that Regina broke down in front of him does bring about a whole slew of questions. '_Better to give her some space though'. _Not to mention she had no idea how to approach the woman now since everything had recently gone to hell between them. Surely her own husband would play informant when they were not so desperate to move along with a rescue plan.

Emma makes her way up the steps out of the sleeping quarters but is surprised to find her mother standing at the top impeding her exit. She gives her a questioning look while Mary Margaret merely offers a closed mouth grin and tilts her head to fend off any questions, not wanting to bring attention to either of them, but Emma's curiosity gets the better of her. She leans slightly to look over her mother's shoulder and sees that David and Regina now face away, Regina's head down, David's hand at her back. Emma smiles and nods now in understanding, proud of the fact that like her father she is able to hold a conversation with her mother through only the use of their eyes.

A moment later David turns around as if he suddenly sensed their presence and shares a smile with them before speaking up, "Emma... you alright?" He asks as he walks away from Regina to give her a moment to save face in light of her small breakdown.

"Yeah... a little sore... kinda tired... but I'm fine." Emma replies with a lazy grin.

David walks over to examine her all the same. He touches a hand to her shoulder and turns her where she stands looking her over for who knows what. Emma merely laughs at this action and then he laughs as well. "You're still in one piece. That's the most important thing." He says as he engulfs her in a fierce hug.

"Yeah and I'm suddenly very thirsty." She replies in jest.

"That may be from all that salt water you managed to drink." Regina offers as she makes her way towards the trio. An uncomfortable clearing of her throat as she notices the lack of emotion in Mary Margaret who avoids eye contact with her and instead focuses on her husband and daughter.

"Yeah well... what can I say?" Emma says with chuckle.

"So what happened to you back there?" Regina asks as she meets eyes with the blonde. "You started to over think it didn't you?" She suggests with a lift of her chin.

"Yup. That's almost exactly... what happened." Emma agrees.

"What do you mean?" Mary Margaret asks confused by this obscure exchange between Regina and her own daughter. _'Such kindred spirits all of a sudden.'_

Emma sighs. "I... might have had some... bad thoughts along the way from the beach to the ship." She shrugs it off as no big deal. "I started thinking that if I didn't make it to the ship I might accidentally _drown_ you." She says meeting eyes with her mother. "I guess the thought of drowning led to water. Water led to... my sudden intake of all that saltwater?" She suggests as she turns to Regina who nods in agreement.

"Magic is not a thought process it is emotional but sometimes even our emotions get the best of us. We often allow our thoughts to factor in." Regina says. "The fact that you made it so close to your destination though was something of significance. Even more so was the fact that you were able to get your mother on deck unharmed. Your thoughts put _you_ at risk while your emotions came through for your mother. That you have the ability to do both simultaneously only goes to show how accurate my previous statement to you was." She says looking Emma in the eye. "You are more powerful than you know."

"So now what?" Emma presents her question to no one in particular.

"Now we need to figure out where everyone is on this island." David answers. "I find it hard to believe that we could be here and still no one has managed to search us out... aside from Hook's captors I mean."

"That may very well be because of the barrier that is still up." Regina suggests as she takes a quick turn about the ship. When she meets eyes with David and takes in his confusion she adds, "Did you not notice?"

Emma takes a look around and realizes, "The ship hasn't moved."

"Once we hit that barrier the ship remained in place. They've got us in their sights whether they are physically here or not." Regina points out.

"Whoever _they_ are." Mary Margaret mutters under her breath.

"Is there a way to... I don't know..." Emma starts to ask. "… to free the ship from the barrier? Obviously none of us can sail the ship but is there a way for us to remove it magically?"

"I suppose I can try something." Regina says with a shrug.

"Wait a minute... wait a minute..." David is quick to interrupt. "What if in moving the ship we call them back out here to us. I mean the instant we hit that barrier they were on us. We can't risk that happening again."

"The remnants of the spell my mother cast to cloak the ship remain. We can use that to our advantage. They cannot attack what they cannot see. It is also quite possible that if I can reenact that cloaking spell we might be able to get out of the hold this barrier has on us."

"Using magic against magic? Is that... wise?" David is careful to question

"Well we can't just let the ship sit out here for the taking. We don't know what our options are as far as getting back home and we don't have time to think about all of that right now. I'll cloak the ship for safe keeping and we go from there." Regina says a bit harshly. She throws a sideways glance. "I'm sorry." She mutters. "We just... we're wasting time. We still don't know where Henry is."

"We'll find him." Mary Margaret says fiercely but offers nothing in the way of consolation.

Regina bows her head in response to the tone the brunette uses but she makes her way to stand in the middle of the deck. She puts her hands up so that her palms face outward. She closes her eyes as if concentrating when in reality she is allowing herself to tap in to the magic her mother left behind.

Emma shivers at what she thinks is a cold wind so she turns to see if the winds have hit the sails. When there is no movement of those sails she suddenly spins around to watch Regina, becoming concerned with what she herself is feeling now. She continues to watch and then she sees it, a hint of a smile forming on Regina's lips while her eyes remain shut as she conjures her magic. Much like David reacted she can't help but feel unnerved.

David takes notice of Emma's concentration on the other woman. "It's a bit unsettling isn't it?" He asks in a whisper. "The smile." He clarifies with a raise of his brows.

Emma smiles awkwardly. "Yeah." She says in a low voice. "I mean it can go either way at this point." She says as she nervously looks around the ship. "Happy or plotting." She says in what she thinks is a whisper.

"Honestly Prince. Stop worrying your daughter. I've already told you that plotting has gotten me nowhere." Regina says as she opens her eyes now. David and Emma share a smirk in their embarrassment of being overheard by the woman and look around as the ship suddenly shifts.

"What's happening?" David asks as he grabs a hold of his wife and daughter.

"It feels like... we're slipping right past the barrier." Regina says in confusion as she looks around the ship. "I didn't think it would be that... simple." She says with a slight hint of surprise in her voice.

"Right well..." David starts to say as he hurries toward the back of the ship. "I suggest we weigh anchor before we strand ourselves." He goes over to find where to drop the anchor from.

"At least we know we can pass through the barrier." Emma says as they stare at the beach in front of them.

"We just really need to find henry." Regina suggests as she crosses her arms over herself.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"Regina just a second ago…" Emma starts to say, "When you were casting that… spell… or… whatever it was…" She shakes her head quickly still not understanding how to word things when it comes to magic. "What were you feeling?"

"Why do you ask?" Regina asks the blonde suspiciously.

"It's just…" She exhales loudly. "Well I mean you were smiling right... then you… I don't know… you…" Regina merely narrows her eyes waiting for the woman to finish her statement. "Was that like a… a happy moment for you? I mean I think I…"

"You felt it?" Regina asks with a raise of her brow.

"I mean… I felt something." Emma says raising her own eyebrow waiting for Regina to comment.

Regina takes a deep breath and lets it out in a sigh. Rather than answer her she proposes a question of her own. "Emma… how did you know what to do when we were back at the mines?"

"I… don't… know…" Emma stutters and shrugs. "I… just… sort of… watched you?" She says with a grimace. "I mean… you were saying how you were sorry that you were not strong enough to stop things and I was really slow to pick up on the fact that the whole reason you were failing was because you thought you lacked strength. My trail of thought led me back to something I said to your mother when I went up against her in the enchanted forest." At hearing this reference to her mother Regina frowns so Emma continues. "She said that love was weakness but I just sort of knew it wasn't. I told her that love is strength." Emma shrugs again.

Regina is staring at Emma, her mouth agape. She had not expected to hear this sort of thing and it completely blows her away. "Why did you think to say that to her?" Regina finally asks with a tilt of her head.

"It felt like the right answer. She was trying to take my mother's heart so I jumped in and saved her. I mean… for me it made sense. If I didn't love her I couldn't have saved her." She shrugs again for lack of a better response. "I don't know." She mutters feeling a bit awkward in her admission.

"Well I don't know why you felt what you felt when I cast the spell." She suggests a bit irritated but she shares. "As for what I was feeling… In my mind I knew that my mother had cast that cloaking spell on this ship once before and it just…" She shakes her head feeling silly. "I guess it made me feel like she was with me in some way." She says with a small smile and a shrug.

"Huh." Emma ponders aloud in a huff.

"What?" Regina asks rolling her eyes sensing that there is a sarcastic comment just waiting to come out of the other woman's mouth.

"I just didn't realize I had anything in common with you." Emma shrugs. "I keep comparing you to my mother so I never stopped to think about it but… well…"

"Well what?" Regina presses a little skeptical at the conclusion the blonde is coming to.

"You had a mother but you didn't really have her. I mean she didn't have her heart so you never really had her love. You miss her but then you have probably always missed her. So in a way you were sort of like an orphan… without a family… until now that is." She says simply as it is the most obvious thing in the world.

Before Regina can respond to this David rushes over. "Alright… so now that we've got the ship anchored we should probably get a move on." He suggests while Regina and Emma nod in agreement.

"So are you up for another attempt at disappearing?" Regina asks Emma with a grin. "We are closer to shore than we were before." She suggests. "… but maybe this time you should take your father." She says this with a raise of her brows knowing this to be the safer choice in traveling companions to keep Emma from repeating her magical fumble from earlier.

Emma merely smirks and nods in consent walking over to where her father stands to take him by the hand. He smiles at her but says nothing as they quickly disappear in to a puff of smoke easily reappearing on the beach where she first attempted this task.

"Should I be offended that you spend less time worrying about my safety than you do your mother's?" He asks with a smile as they wait on Regina and Mary Margaret to join them.

"It just means I have faith in your ability to keep yourself safe. I mean you are Prince Charming after all." She says with a chuckle as she nudges him with her elbow.

Back onboard the Jolly Roger Regina moves to stand next to Mary Margaret and though she is probably more than capable of sending them both to the beach without doing so she extends her hand all the same. The fact that they haven't had time to clear the air between them is duly noted but she hopes this weak attempt at a warm gesture is accepted as a peace offering by the younger woman who hasn't spoken much since they got back on this ship.

Mary Margaret does not meet eyes with the woman but she sees the hand offered to her and reaches out to take hold before they are both engulfed in a puff of smoke and appear on the beach with David and Emma.

When the smoke clears Regina looks over and meets eyes with Mary Margaret smiling sadly at her until the younger brunette swiftly pulls her hand away to walk over to take her husband's hand. Regina frowns slightly trying not to react to this woman's actions as she follows after the trio who now make their way in to the wooded area.

"We should probably retrace our steps." Emma says to David. "Hook is probably holed up wherever they're keeping Henry… I mean… if these are the only people on this little island."

"Where the heck is Gold?" David asks as they push on through the brush.

"No idea." Emma mutters. "Do you think maybe he's been here before?" She asks.

"Knowing Rumple…" Regina speaks up. "The fact that he has insight in to many things only means trouble. We really need to be careful when we meet up with him. I wouldn't put it past him to use us all against each other or maybe even to his advantage."

"What reason would he have to do that?" Emma asks looking over her shoulder at Regina.

"Does he ever need a reason to create disaster? It's just what he does. He takes advantage. He takes advantage of people and their situations. Just ask your mother and father." She suggests and then addresses the two in question. "You both really need to get your daughter here up to date on her family's history with the Dark One."

Emma merely chuckles and mutters under her breath. "… says my evil step grandmother." Suddenly everyone stops walking to stare at her. "What?" She asks as they all eye her. "It was a joke!" She says in exasperation. "I mean… we are one really screwed up family here aren't we?" She asks putting her hands out in the air. "My Mom and Dad, Snow White and Prince Charming, look the same age as me. My Mother's step-mother, The Evil Queen, adopted my son so he's also my what? My… step-uncle?" She looks over at Mary Margaret. "He's like your adopted step brother." She says with a confused expression on her face. "Meanwhile Rumplestiltskin is my son's paternal grandfather… Oh my God!" She gasps as she has drawn yet another entertaining conclusion. She then turns to Regina, "You're also Henry's Great Grandmother!" She points out with a shocked expression that slowly transforms in to a grin. "Oh Wait! I mean… 'Step... Great-Grandmother' excuse me." She corrects.

Where there should be laughter the silence is deafening as Emma stands between them. David smiles sympathetically at his daughter before turning and leading the way. Regina all but glares at her then turns to follow after David. Mary Margaret offers Emma a hint of a smile, reaches out to take her by the hand, and pulls her along with them as she suggests in a whisper, "Maybe… let's not go down that road again."

Emma merely chuckles in response as they make their way through the thicket of greenery.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

"This is making me nervous." David says as he leads the three women down a path of what seems like an endless thicket of shade and trees.

"What is?" Mary Margaret asks him tentatively as she tries to keep in step beside him.

"The quiet." He says simply as he looks towards the tree tops above them.

"Oh that's not good." Emma says anxiously and when her mother turns to look at her she says, "If he's nervous I don't feel very safe right now."

"That's alright Dear you've got your magic." Regina says with a slight chuckle. She doesn't see the roll of Mary Margaret's eyes at her suggestion. "I'm sure we'll be fine with whatever comes our way in this place."

"Um... I couldn't even stay out of trouble in the enchanted forest. My mother had to keep me from getting eaten by an Ogre and _that_ was before I knew I could do magic." Emma says sarcastically. "Now with magic I almost drowned. What makes you think Neverland is going to be any safer for me?"

"Well... what do you know of this place?" Regina proposes. "I'm sure someone like you is..." She starts to say but is cut off.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Emma asks standing in front of the woman to keep her from walking on, her eyes expressing an unspoken dare for Regina to continue with that current trail of thought. "Someone like... _me_?" She asks narrowing her eyes.

Rolling her eyes Regina offers a polite smile. Insulting the blonde came far too easily to her, and _'old habits die hard,'_ as they say. "I just meant... much like you pointed out to me... that with you growing up an orphan you might know a thing or two about a place that is home to the infamous _'Lost Boys'_. I was not trying to insult you."

Emma sighs loudly to keep herself from speaking out angrily but she manages to mutter a response. "Yeah... I pointed out that _you_ were like orphan and for your information Peter Pan was not one of my favorite stories growing up so I have no clue what to expect here."

"My mistake." Regina says widening her eyes at the suddenly snippy tone the blonde was taking with her although she preferred this over the silent treatment she seemed to be getting from Mary Margaret. A heated argument she could handle silence… not so much.

"I remember a story about Peter Pan losing his shadow." She says shrugging. "I also remember something about him hanging out with the lost boys and he was... I don't know... friends with mermaids and Indians?" She turns to her mother. "You were a teacher for twenty eight years. Does any of this sound right?"

Mary Margaret smiles politely. "Pirates…" She says simply. "You forgot to mention the pirates."

"Oh Right and Captain Hook… who has managed to get captured by whom we have to assume here are those lost boys. Man... He is never going to live down being an idiot is he?" Emma points out and David chuckles as he still has the lead down their current path. "It makes sense that he can't take a punch from a girl." She says with a toothy grin at the memory of how she knocked him out cold before she and Mary Margaret made it back to Storybrooke.

As they struggle to stick together only the sounds of deep breathes and the rustling of foliage can be heard. Emma notices how both her mother and Regina seem to avoid looking in each other's direction. She smiles at the thoughts that come to mind now. Twenty Eight years of a curse and they were both able to remain much like children holding their respectable grudges. Sure the grudges they held seemed quite epic when read aloud from Henry's story book but the fact remains that these grudges were rather silly at the moment.

Here they were in Neverland, a place Emma thought to be fantasy, up until that moment she knew magic existed. That was also the day she nearly lost Henry to a sleeping curse cooked up by none other than Regina _'The Evil Queen'._ Emma shakes her head a this. At times these thoughts were simply too much for her to take seriously. She can't help the smirks and giggles that threaten to escape her when she should very well be worried about Henry's safety.

_'Henry'_, she thinks to herself. No doubt this was probably not what he had been expecting for his first adventure in a land with magic. Sure he had hopes for some sort of epic venture but that was when he thought they might all go back to the enchanted forest together as a family. Neverland just wasn't in the cards until Tamara and Greg came along and swept him away. "I know I shouldn't say this but I just somehow doubt that Henry isn't enjoying all of this." Emma ponders aloud.

Regina of course does not take this lightly. "You think he enjoys being kidnapped and taken against his own will to a land that he knows nothing about with two people who want to wipe out magic... one of which almost killed his own mother?"

"Calm down Regina. I'm only saying he's been waiting for the opportunity to be somewhere other than the real world where he and I come from." Emma says as she attempts to walk past the brooding woman.

Regina grabs her by the arm and rather aggressively pulls her to a stop, her eyes take on a slightly lavender hue. "This isn't a joke! You don't know what they might be doing to him right now. Look at what Greg nearly did to me!? He knows who Henry is! He knows that he is my son!" The fear of her own words is evident in the way her voice breaks.

"I'm sorry!" Emma says angrily. "I spoke out of place. I wasn't thinking. I just... it's just a little hard for me to grasp the nature of things lately. It's been a really... _'hurry up and go'_ year for me alright? I'm sorry if I can't come to terms with my reality the way you always use to... cursing and magically smiting people!" She shouts as her own eyes take on a blue glow. It is with both passion and venom that they stare each other down and because they are too caught up in the moment what happens next takes them both by surprise.

There is a blinding flash that surrounds them, a thunderous boom resounds, and a gust of wind kicks up the dirt from the shadowy ground. With a ringing in her ears Emma manages to make out a struggle of some sort nearby but she cannot see anything through the fog of dirt.

She tries to feel around for her parents and Regina but her body is sore as if she had just completed the physical workout of a lifetime. Drained and disoriented she struggles to get to her feet and ends up coming to a tumble on the ground.

Now out cold the dream she had on board the Jolly Roger picks up and repeats. In her mind's eye she is back at the Storybrooke Cannery fighting off Tamara who just managed to shoot Neal down. Her mind fast forwards to the moment Neil moves to save her even as he is wounded not willing to let Emma slip through that portal. The floor opens up to the portal just a little more and they both hang at the edge with Neil almost going in.

_"Don't let Henry grow up the way we did."_ Neil says to her as she hangs on to him with all the strength she can possibly muster.

_"Then Don't let go."_ Emma is desperate to offer but the dream never finishes. It always seems to stop before she has the chance to watch him fall through the portal.

With a jerk of her body Emma wakes from a spot on the humid ground of this jungle like forest. She rolls her head from side to side and squints. The sun quickly blinding her as it peeks through the tree tops with the wind. She blinks several times. She licks her dry lips and reminds herself of where she is. "Neverland…" She mutters groggily as she props herself up on her elbows to take a better look around.

The first thing she notices is how quiet it suddenly is. The next thing she notices is that her parents are nowhere to be found.

"Aw great." She growls to herself as she tries to get her legs to cooperate with her so that she may stand and get a better look around.

Slouching she manages to take a few steps forward looking for any signs of that struggle she had heard earlier. As she walks on she makes out a dark form laying near the base of a tree. She stands straighter and focuses her eyes in that direction. As she gets closer she lets out gasped whisper, "Regina."


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Emma rushes over to Regina who lay on her side on the ground. She squats down and carefully turns the woman so that she is lying on her back. She brushes the hair from the woman's face with one hand while she checks for a pulse with the other. "Regina?" She whispers. "Can you hear me?" Apparently Emma wasn't the only person knocked unconscious by that blast as she does not respond to the call of her own name.

Emma reaches out and grabs at her shoulders now to gently shake her. "Regina." She says as she shakes her a few more times. "Regina wake up." When that doesn't work she takes a strong hold of the woman's arm and shakes her just a bit more forcefully so that she lifts her body slightly off of the ground.

Regina's eyes snap open and she grabs a hold of the blonde's wrists tightly, mistaking the current hold on her own arm as an attack. She eyes the woman and hardly allows the slight panic in her to show. When she has the chance to take in the surprised expression on the blonde's face she loosens her hold and relaxes her own features. "Emma?" She questions in a pant as she looks down at her own body. "What happened?" She asks as she leans her head up slightly.

"I don't know... an explosion or something." Emma says lowering herself so that she is sitting on her haunches. "You alright?" She asks as she looks the woman over briefly.

"I think so. I just... I feel so drained." Regina says as she rests her head back down on the ground, closing her eyes for a moment.

"Yeah... me too." Emma notes suspiciously as she watches the woman.

Regina takes a few cleansing breathes and opens her eyes once more. "Where are your parents?" She asks.

"Don't know." Emma says simply. "I passed out somewhere over there and when I woke up they weren't here." She says as she looks to Regina once more. "You sure you're alright?" She asks with a frown as she grabs a hold of the woman by the arm to get her attention.

Regina nods and moves to sit up. "I'm fine."

"Really?" She asks skeptically releasing her hold. "You were kind of freaking out on me there when I woke you." Emma suggests as she narrows her gaze waiting for the woman to address this observation of her. "What was that all about?"

Regina frowns not appreciating being put on the spot so she deflects. "Tell me… how would you react to someone violently shaking you to consciousness?"

"Fair enough… I'm sorry if I frightened you." Emma offers putting her hands up in mock surrender.

Regina rubs at her own arms and then reaches down to rub at her knees as well. "An explosion?" She questions aloud as she looks around. "If it was an explosion I think most of the trees would be gone from here." She suggests to the blonde. "Nothing seems out of sorts."

Emma stands up to survey the area now. "Yeah, I guess you're right." She turns around to offer Regina a hand to stand up. "Well... there was a flash. You saw it didn't you?"

"Yes." Regina says and nods as she dusts herself off.

"Do you think maybe we did something when we were fighting? I mean your eyes were glowing purple there at the end. Doesn't that mean you were using your... _evil magic_?" She asks emphasizing the words with a display of air quotes.

Regina rolls her eyes. "I wasn't the only one with glowing eyes just then." She says making it a point to give the woman an unyielding look. "I don't believe it was anything that we did."

"Well where the hell did they go and what was that explosion all about?" Emma asks as she rests her hands on her hips.

"I'm not sure... but I think it's safe to say that it did have something to do with magic. Why else would you and I have been so drained by it?" Regina suggests as she comes to stand next to the blonde still rubbing at her sore arms. "I think maybe we were being watched. Our argument provided quite the convenient distraction for a kidnapping."

"Great!" Emma says in a huff. "Is there ever going to be a time where we aren't running around looking for someone?" She throws her arms up in irritation before she turns to face the woman. "I swear Regina if you get lost I'm leaving you behind to find Henry and we're getting the heck out of here." Clearly she is trying to lighten the mood of things.

"How is it so easy for you to joke about all of this?" Regina says and it's apparent she is somewhat offended by the blonde's unsympathetic words. It was, after all, the reason they began to bicker just minutes ago.

"Hey now… Don't judge me." Emma says in defense as she points to Regina.

"Your parents are missing and your son has been kidnapped... and you're coping by making jokes about it?" Regina asks incredulously with a raise of her brow.

"At least my way of coping doesn't inflict pain on anyone or include the use of year's long curses." Emma bites back as she crosses her arms over herself.

Regina purses her lips and glares at the blonde. "If you make one more reference to me as The Evil Queen or talk about the curse it'll be the last thing you say today." She says angrily now.

Emma rolls her eyes and sighs. "You aren't happy unless you have the last word are you?" She asks rhetorically. There is a beat of silence and then she thinks to ask, "So... do you think it might have been Gold? I mean you pointed out that he loves to take advantage of people. You think he might have come back to take Mary Margaret and David?"

"No. No I've felt his magic plenty of times to know it. That was not him. It was someone or something else." Regina says as she looks off in thought.

"Well who the heck would want to steal my parents away? I mean... if anything we are the only real threat here." Emma suggests now.

Regina chuckles at the blonde's suggestion. "We? I think you mean that _I_... am the only threat here. You couldn't even manage to appear on a ship without drowning. It's lucky your father knows how to swim otherwise I might have had to make the extra effort to fish you out for him."

Emma frowns. "At least he has the courage to jump in and act."

"Sadly I fear that is a family trait you all seem to share, jump in and act without thought of the consequences." Regina says in an un-amused tone.

"Oh for Christ's sake Regina, get off your high horse already. My mother ruined your life by meddling and you tried your own magical meddling to destroy hers. Nothing was accomplished… _THE END_. This story is getting old real quick. Can we just get a move on here? We're burning daylight." She says as she walks away angrily intending to lead the way.

"Do you even know where you are going… or where we should look first?" Regina asks as she watches the woman, musing on how she had endured a somewhat similar situation with the blonde's mother. It was almost endearing to notice the similarities between those two though their manner of arguing did differ.

"No... And maybe I don't have the ability to track like my mother and father but I'm good at finding people. It's just what I do." Emma says without turning around though the slump of her shoulders reveals a lack of confidence in her own words.

Regina has a slight flashback in the midst of all this. She remembers how Emma had come to Storybrooke and offered to help find Henry when he ran off. Apparently things have not changed too much from here to there as they were once again here to more or less find Henry. She sighs loudly before she offers up, "Well… I have a way to track. I can teach you if you like."

"You… can track?" Emma asks with a disbelieving smirk as she turns the face her.

"With magic." Regina clarifies with a roll of her head.

"Magic… right… wait…" She puts up a hand. "If you could use magic to track then what the heck are we doing trying to figure out where everyone is?"

"I can't just track everything now can I? We'll be running around aimlessly or probably end up finding some sort of native creature. I need a starting point. If we find a footprint, drag marks, or… _something_… I can possibly pick up a trail and we can follow that. It's definitely a long shot as we have no idea what or who might have taken your parents but it's better than waiting around for an opportunity to come to us." Regina says. Her body language clearly mirrors the frustration in her voice.

Emma frowns. "Okay... I'll… start looking." She says uncertainly as she heads back to the spot she woke from.

Regina stands some distance away as the younger woman takes her time in recollecting the spot she remembered her parents standing last before the sudden blast threw them all about. Emma had been so caught up arguing with Regina that it was a little hard to come up with an answer to that question. She grimaces at the thought but decides not to comment aloud otherwise she'll just be asking for a new argument by throwing a blame game in to the mix. She throws a fleeting glance to the woman and then sees it. "Hey! I think I found something." Regina walks over to stand beside her and look to the spot Emma is pointing out before them. "It… sort of looks like… a boot print… maybe." She suggests in a hopeful voice.

Regina gives Emma a look that can only be described as condescending. "Maybe?" She echoes with a raise of her eyebrows.

"Look… this isn't Law and Order or CSI." Emma says in her own defense.

"How is it that you managed to do your job as Sherriff?" Regina asks her while trying to keep from chuckling. It was simply too easy to bait the blonde in to a defensive situation.

"Hey! There were no prerequisites. I was elected by vote not interviewed." Emma defends once more. "… and considering Storybrooke is a fake town…" She points out with her own raised eyebrows. "I think I did a pretty good job of it."

Regina rolls her eyes. "You keep telling yourself that Dear." She bends down to inspect the boot print and then offers to Emma, "As you said we're burning daylight, do you wish me to teach you the tracking spell or should I simply get a move on?" A caddish grin appears on her face. She'd be lying if she didn't say she enjoyed insulting the woman.

Emma frowns not liking the idea of her own words being used against her but this was Regina. It was just too fitting and like always she took the bait. "Alright then your Highness… lay your magical wisdom on me." She says with an ever smug grin while Regina only glares starting to regret her continued offer to teach this unpleasant person.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

"Alright." Regina starts off. "This spell is fairly simple but dangerous if you do not use it sparingly." She says pointedly.

"Dangerous?" Emma manages to suppress a chuckle. "What's supposed to happen here? Is something going to self-destruct if we don't find our target on time?" She asks skeptically not bothering to hold in her laughter at this point.

"No…" Regina drawls out still kneeling next to the boot print. "…but if you don't run it correctly you'll risk the chance of giving us away in the process." She says glaring up at the blonde. "You touch the point you wish to start with. It illuminates. You call up that trail and contain it to short distances otherwise the kidnappers on the other side of this trail might follow it back before we have a chance to see it through."

"Right. I get it now... Sorry." Emma offers with a shake of her head suddenly feeling foolish for doubting the danger this might involve. She'd never admit it but this sounded an awful lot like something Mary Margaret would scold her about. In fact it only brought to mind the whole incident with the Ogre she and her mother endured in the enchanted forest. _"... next time, listen to me?" _she pleaded and Much like trusting in her Mother's instincts back in the Enchanted Forest Emma was going to have to learn to trust Regina when dealing with or learning new magic. "So what do I do?"

"It's like tossing a stone in the water to see how deep a pond is. Just keep that in mind and touch this boot print." Regina says as she stands up to allow Emma room to bend down and do as she is instructing. When Emma reaches out a hand to touch the ground Regina suddenly grabs her by the shoulder to hold her back and hurriedly say, "Wait… just… take your time." She warns before softening her voice and letting go of the woman. "Remember… you only want to pick up the trail not reveal it completely."

Emma nods in understanding and to shake off the slight nervousness that crept up with Regina's rushed words she sighs deeply then shuts her eyes to call upon her own magic. No matter the fact that Emma has already used her magic more these days it did not make it any easier. The idea that she had to fight off interruptions in her own busy mind and wield magic from within her was hard to come to terms with. Maybe it would get easier with practice. It seemed to come naturally to Regina now and she wasn't born with the ability. She learned magic from none other than Rumplestiltskin, _'Another one of those humorous tidbits of information.'_ Emma thinks to herself with a small chuckle with her eyes still shut.

Of course Regina hears this and steps forward to ask in a huff, "What is it now?"

"Sorry… I just felt a little silly... for a second there." Then she opens her eyes to look up at the brunette. "You know… you don't have to hover. I'll get it but not with you breathing down my neck." She says before she turns back around to focus on her magical task.

When she senses that Regina has taken a step back she smiles feeling a little better about herself. Where Regina loved to push her Emma always looked for the opportunity to put the former Queen in her place. Still with the smile in place her hand touches the boot print and it starts to illuminate more prints in a trail. Slowly she opens her eyes and Regina swiftly grabs at her shoulder to yank her to face her.

"What did you do?" Regina asks as she looks over the woman's face. It isn't an angry question it's more of a mix of hesitance and surprise.

Confused by the way this suddenly feels like a new argument just waiting to happen Emma stutters, "I… don't… know." She shakes her head quickly. "What?" She shrugs and widens her eyes. "I did what you told me to do… didn't I?" She asks as she starts to stand and survey the boot prints outlined in a yellow glow. Thankfully the trail seemed to end only a few yards away.

"… but what were you thinking about when you did it?" She asks with a tilt of her head as she narrows her eyes on the woman.

"Why?" She asks instead then her eyes widen. "Oh I get it. You felt it this time didn't you… like back on the Jolly Roger when I felt you doing that cloaking spell?" Emma says nodding her head knowing she is correct in her assumption.

Regina takes a moment to think on this. Much like the situation aboard the Jolly Roger she did not have an idea in the slightest as to why they were able to feel each other's magic that way. Of course she decides to just let this go. She quickly snaps her attention to the trail before them. "You managed to pull that off quite well." She says with a nod. "We should get moving."

Soon enough Regina is leading them on and when they reach the end of that trail she allows Emma to reveal a new leg of it. This time though she does not feel Emma's magic like before. What was the difference? Did it matter? _'It's possible the magic of this land is meddling with our own,' _she thinks to herself with a shrug as they continue on in silence.

As they follow the trail a few thoughts pop up in Emma's mind and because they had time to kill until they met the end of this odd little tracking venture she decided to go with her gut and entertain those thoughts. She turns to look at the woman who trudges on in silence and then chances speaking out, "Can I ask you something?"

Regina for her part is either too caught up in her own thoughts to address the blonde or is doing an effective job of ignoring her. Either way it was a little irritating. "You know… if you don't respond I'm just going to keep talking." Emma proposes in a breathy laugh.

"Fine." Regina growls. "Ask me then."

"So… the curse?" She starts to question but is very quickly cut off as Regina comes to a sudden halt.

"I specifically told you not to refer to me as…"

"The Evil Queen or talk about the curse." Emma says thoroughly intercepting Regina's own interception of the conversation. "I know. I know." She agrees. "… but I'd like to point out that I don't know you that way. I only know you as Regina the mayor of Storybrooke. The woman who had me arrested my first week in her town and tried for a little over a year to get me to leave said town. Little did I know it was because she was trying to run me off so I wouldn't break her little curse." Emma says making a whimsical gesture of her hands in the air before she breaks out in to a hearty chuckle. "This is never _not_ going to be funny to me."

"What is it exactly that you find funny?" Regina asks genuinely curious and only slightly confused.

"This…magic… fairytales and fantasy coming to life." Emma points out still smiling as they continue to walk on. "I'm in the middle of Neverland arguing with…" She lets that sentence end after hearing Regina clear her throat. "Alright…" She amends. "I'm in the middle of Neverland looking to rescue my son Henry but instead I am now searching for my parents, who are Snow White and Prince Charming. I got here aboard the Jolly Roger, what is supposed to be a fictional vessel that was manned by Captain Hook himself. Did I fail to mention that I was only in the Enchanted forest a few months ago?" She turns to look at Regina before she continues. "I didn't have much of an imagination growing up but I can tell you that nothing I ever could have thought up would be anywhere near this ridiculous."

Regina does not understand what the blonde is trying to explain to her and its painfully obvious in her body language as she shrugs and shakes her head at the blonde who is staring at her waiting for some sort of response.

"I'm sorry…" Emma says in realization. "I… forgot who I was talking to." She points out and is careful not to address the woman as her more whimsical moniker for the sake of keeping any new arguments at bay. She decides to focus on her question instead. "Anyway… the curse…" and when she sees Regina open her mouth ready to argue she puts up a hand to stop her. "I'm not… calling you out on it. Calm down. I just have a question about it." Regina only sighs in resignation as they walk on. "So… if the point of the curse was for everyone to lose their happy endings…"

"That wasn't the point…" Regina is quick to interject. "At least not entirely."

"Then… what was the point?" Emma asks in confusion.

"Your… mother and father… well they managed to best me. They were in cohorts with Rumple and he procured a way for them to keep me from using my magic against them in our world." Regina says and because this is delving in to a past she does not particularly enjoy reminiscing over she cannot help the way her words spill out in the form of riddle more than rhyme.

"Wait… what?" Emma asks not understanding a word of what was just described to her.

"They found a way to keep me from hurting them or using magic against t hem in our world so in order to get my revenge that I had been wanting for so long it was suggested to me that I take us to a new world. A world in which I could exact my revenge without the restraints of a spell they used against me." She offers trying to clear things up for the younger woman. "Your world." She adds as an afterthought.

Emma mulls this over for a few minutes before she heads on a new tangent. "Okay…" she drawls out. "Then if that's really what you wanted, if you were looking to exact your revenge, why didn't you? You had all that time on your hands and you let it go by. Twenty eight years of a curse and you didn't do much of anything." She points out and sees the frown on the other woman's lips.

"I feel like we've gone over all of this already…" She starts to say, "and I'm really quite tired of repeating myself." She offers in a rush completely fed up with the direction this conversation is going.

"Still… if you wanted to eliminate the happy endings you did a terrible job." Emma points out once more. "Not only did you not kill my mother or torture my father... you basically gave everyone a clean slate. Everyone sort of got a second chance… well maybe everyone except you." She suggests.

"The dark curse was not of my own making. It was… given to me." Regina offers evasively. "I only knew it would send us all to another land. I did not know the details of it."

"Well… I hate to say it but you really had one pulled over on you Regina. I'm surprised you didn't go as crazy as Jefferson did. You were both cursed with the knowledge of two lives. You didn't get anything out of that." Emma points out hastily.

"I got Henry." Regina offers in a whisper.

"At what cost?" Emma asks. "That was a whole lot of time spent doing who knows what until I was old enough to have him and give him up. Even after that… you had all that time with him and you were basically running around doing damage control once he was old enough to figure things out. It's no wonder you're…" She stops before she can finish her statement. She felt an insult ready to slip from her tongue and didn't want to go there. They're arguments only got them in to deeper trouble lately.

Regina knew what she was thinking and tries her best to control her own anger. She sighs sadly now realizing that whatever word was waiting to come out of the blonde was probably as accurate a description as any so she offers her own instead. "A monster? Yes… I know." She says and then frowns sadly before walking away.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

"Regina…" Emma calls out softly as she tries to backtrack and console the woman whose feelings she has obviously hurt.

"No it's fine." Regina whispers dejectedly. "I know who I am. I know what I've done. I'm good at making a mess of things no matter what world I'm in. It's all I've ever done and I know I have a long… long way to go before I can even begin to make amends." She suggests as she stops walking for a moment and shuts her eyes tightly.

Emma pulls her eyebrows together in the most quizzical of expressions. "What are you doing?" She asks in a juvenile whine, her shoulders slumping as she throws her head back. It was something Henry might do after being dragged off unwillingly to some sort of clothes shopping trip. It was the early warnings of a tantrum waiting to be thrown.

Regina's own brows knit together as she isn't sure where this suddenly childish behavior is coming from. She opens her mouth and attempts to question the blonde but doesn't get the chance to.

"You're not going to stand here and throw a pity party for yourself now are you?" Emma finally comes out and asks as she roughly places her hands on her own hips glaring at the woman.

If Regina weren't so confused by what she is seeing she might have indulged herself in a bit of laughter. "I'm… not…" She starts to say hesitantly in defense while slowly shaking her head in the negative.

"I'm not my mother. I don't do sensitive emotional chats. If you wanna air out some dirty laundry that's fine but don't… don't do this. Don't… go feeling sorry for yourself." Emma spits out in a rush as she sees how Regina's mouth gapes open in shock. "Look… Regina…" She starts to say then for lack of something better to do with her hands she throws one out in front of her and gestures to a random spot on the ground between them. "You've… you have nothing to feel sorry for yourself about." She says very adamantly. "You endured a childhood with a lunatic woman for a mother. You had a father who I'm sure loved you but just had a horrible way of nurturing you if he let your mother run your life the way she did. You watched your mother kill the love of your life. You were obviously manipulated by some freak off his leash that got you hooked on magic sending you on a path of destruction. You… you sought out revenge on my mother hoping it would ease the pain of all the loss you suffered and when that didn't work you cursed everyone to a town where the person who probably suffered the most was you and you're still here to tell the tale." Emma says finally taking a breath eyeing the woman before her.

Regina is looking directly at her now with some very misplaced anger. She's angry at being called out on all of this so suddenly, but she's also angry with herself for allowing it to continue not to mention the fact that Emma loves to call upon her mother at times like this. It was like she never missed out on a chance to insult Cora but Regina was too worn out to keep defending her at this point. She swallows hard and tries not to let any angry tears spill from her eyes. She breathes deeply and finally manages to break eye contact.

"Regina I know you." Emma says simply which gets those dark eyes focused on her once more. "I mean I don't know everything about you but there's a part of you I am quite familiar with and guess what? That part of you is a survivor." She says and when Regina averts her eyes and frowns Emma presses on. "You've been to hell and back. You nearly died Regina! You've lost a lot but you're still here pushing on and that… that has to count for something no matter what your messy past was like." Regina manages to smile and though it's a rather faint one it lets Emma know she's getting through to her. "So you ready to suck it up and get your head back in the game here?" She says with a huge grin on her face.

Regina lets out a strangled laugh and still with that small smile on her lips manages to say in a voice that is nearly breaking, "Is this the sort of pep talk you keep giving your mother?"

"Yeah… well… sort of." Emma offers with a shrug of one shoulder and a now awkward chuckle. "Honestly Regina, you're getting soft on me here. I'd rather have you back to your old habit of manipulating me in to an argument than…" She gestures vertically at Regina, "Whatever sad excuse for a former Queen this is right now." She finishes, trying to lighten the mood with some banter.

"Well… you've got one thing right." Regina says with a sniffle as she starts to lead them on in their journey.

"What's that?" Emma asks in confusion.

"You are definitely not your mother." She suggests as the smile on her face grows a bit more. Emma soon falls into step behind her.

They spend the rest of this leg of the boot print trail in a more comfortable silence while Regina takes the time to think on her last statement to the blonde, Emma was not Snow.

Perhaps if she had managed to engage in a true argument with Snow the way she always seemed to with the daughter of Snow things would have turned out differently between them. At the very least the level of respect they give each other might have changed.

Again she thinks on how their manner of arguing differs. Where Snow lacked bite in her words, Emma throws in words to backup up the ferocity expressed in her actions. Where it took a lot of coaxing to get Snow to break, Emma was always quite quick to put in her two cents. The only reason Snow ever got riled up was that her patience had finally worn thin and that simply took far too much effort for Regina's tastes, but Emma seemed to have no reservations. Snow did her best to avoid confrontation while Emma met it head on but then again maybe that was the thing. It was easier to argue with someone who had more in common with you, who fought just as hard as you and understood the depth of it. The truth was she had more in common with Snow White's daughter than she did with Snow White herself. Regina chuckles to herself at coming to this ridiculous conclusion.

"What's so funny?" Emma asks walking in step beside the woman now.

"Nothing." Regina shrugs off.

"Mhmm… I see you've picked up my habit of finding the humor in light of things seeming bleak. At least it's better than being completely optimistic like my mother." Emma suggests smiling all the while.

"Yes you're right. I suppose it could be worse." Regina offers nonchalantly.

Emma looks over at the woman as she trudges on, "Is it because I called you my Evil Step Grandmother earlier? Is that where this sudden lack of fight is coming from?" Then she smiles wickedly at bringing that up again.

"Emma… do not ever call me that again." Regina says looking over and meeting eyes with the blonde.

Emma simply laughs despite the growl in the woman's words she knows there is no real threat to her now.

Soon they come to the end of another leg of the boot print trail which is up on a hillside still thick with trees. There looks to be a makeshift cabin built right in to the small hump of this hill, the ratty wooden door is slightly ajar. Emma is so focused on the door she is not paying attention to the fact that the boot trail ends well before the cabin. It was as if they suddenly disappear.

Regina however does notice this. She examines the once illuminated boot prints, notices the lack of more, then almost immediately looks to where Emma is stepping and before she can warn her a trap is set in motion and Emma goes up in a net rigged to hang up in the trees. "You really… really need to think before you leap Dear." Regina suggests from below her. Emma growls in complete embarrassment. "It's alright. I'll get you down." She says with a smile and then with a flick of her wrist the net opens from underneath Emma and she falls to the ground with a good solid thud.

"Regina!" Emma grumbles at the woman as she gets to her feet to dust herself. "Did you have to drop me?"

Regina only shoots her a menacing grin. "It was too easy." She suggests with a shrug but before Emma can come up with something more to retort they both get a sense of something.

Nothing is visibly disturbed but it's something in the air. It was a sudden charge in the form of "Magic," Emma says in a whisper and before the women have a chance to react to it the same blinding flash from earlier stuns them now. The scene that played out before simply recurs here, a resounding boom and a fog of dirt kicks up in the air. The only difference between this time and that is Regina's firm grip on the blonde's arm which keeps them grounded in place. Now it's only a matter of clearing the fog to reveal the initiator of this sudden attack.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Regina's grip on Emma's arm does not let up and because she is hanging on so tightly Emma grabs her hand to force her to loosen that grip. "You're cutting off circulation already." Emma mutters feeling Regina move to grab hold of her arm instead not willing to relinquish her death grip just yet.

"No Wait!" Regina suddenly shouts in a rush pulling Emma back by the hand to force her to stand behind her. Regina then throws a blast of magic and even though the fog of dirt lingers in the air she hears something hit the ground in front of them suggesting she blindly hit her target. Regina then flings both arms out in front of her to clear a visible path in the fog before them.

"Who the hell is that!?" Emma asks looking over Regina's shoulder as they both see the form lying on the ground a few feet ahead.

"I have no idea. It... it looks like a child." Regina says with a gasp as she takes a few cautious steps forward with no intention of touching the person.

"Child? More like a small teenager..." and as Emma passes up Regina by a step that so called "teenager" becomes animated once more.

"Ow..." The figure says in a groan taking a moment to snap out of their stunned state. A pair of blue eyes widens at the sight of Emma and quickly the person gets to their feet pulling back their arms before gesturing in a forward motion.

The being throws a blast of magic which is clearly meant to strike Emma but Regina shoves her to the ground taking the full force of it. The same blinding flash they had seen before occurs as the blast hits Regina and it is followed by the now expectant boom and accompanying kick up of dirt in to the air around them.

"Regina!" Emma yells as she leaps in the direction she had seen the woman fall to.

"Regina?" a voice timidly echoes in question through the fog. "I thought... oops..." The young voice says with a tone of regret now.

"Who said that!? Who are you?" Emma demands angrily at hearing the voice so close by. She takes a chance and blindly reaches out to grab a hold of and effectively pull that young figure to her.

Those same blue eyes now widen in fear and with a wave of her hand the young thing clears the fog of dirt. "I'm... I'm Tinker Bell. Everyone calls me Tink." the young girl says as she somewhat cowers within Emma's grasp. "I'm sorry... I thought you were Regina. I was confused... I..."

"What difference does it make if I'm Regina or not?" Emma asks as she shoves the young girl away.

"I was told... I mean... you..." The girl scrambles to explain.

"Wait a minute. Did you just say you were Tinker Bell?" She asks with a tilt of her head as her eyes squint together in confusion.

"Yes." The girl confirms with a grimace.

"Like... the fairy?" Emma asks skeptically.

"Yes... I'm... I'm a fairy." The girl stutters.

Emma merely grimaces herself. "I... thought you'd be a lot smaller." She offers blinking in confusion trying not to sound as silly as she feels. Then she remembers Regina had been struck down so she makes her way over in that direction as she begins her new line of questions. "Why did you attack us? I mean... why do you _keep_ attacking us?" She asks as she bends down to check the woman over. "Why is she always unconscious?" Emma mutters to herself as she rolls the woman to lie more comfortably on her back.

"I... I was told that once you followed the trail here that I was to attack the one named Emma."

"Who asked you to do that?" Emma asks quite confused by this revelation. "Were you the one who took my parents?" She demands as she stands back up to confront the young fairy.

"Your parents? No... I mean..." The smaller blonde stutters, "I created the distraction but I didn't take that man and woman."

"... but you know who did." Emma points out.

"Yes... but... I was not given specifics. I was only told to attack the one named Emma." She says with a shrug. "I assumed that Emma was someone of wicked magic. It never occurred to me that someone with light magic would be a threat in Neverland." Tink says now with a shrug and a confused shake of her head.

Emma narrows her gaze. "How do you know what kind of magic I have?"

"I can see it." The young fairy says simply. "I sense that our magic differs but I can still see it. The nature of it is undeniable. Yours has an essence of True Love. It's as plain as day to me."

"Yet you still managed to attack Regina instead of me." Emma offers in a voice full of annoyance, gesturing at the still unconscious woman lying on the ground.

"As I said before I was only told to attack someone named Emma. I assumed with the wariness in the voice of my... friend..." She says not wishing to name names, "It had something to do with an evil entity. She has dark magic written in her." The fairy says pointing to Regina now. "It's not powerful but I can still see it and so I attacked what I thought was the biggest threat."

Emma rolls her eyes at hearing this. "Who asked you to wait for us?"

"I… cannot tell you that." The smaller woman says nervously. "I... I wasn't going to hurt you. I was just going to keep you subdued until they came for her." Tink says now throwing a sideways glance at Regina on the ground.

Emma growls in frustration. "Can you at least help me get her inside?"

"Of course." The small blonde nods and with a wave of her hand she helps to levitate Regina and guide her in to the little abandoned shelter.

"What is this place anyway?" Emma asks as she enters behind the fairy.

Tink purses her lips and rolls her eyes. "This is 'The Wendy House'."

Emma slightly chuckles at the tone the fairy uses. "I'm sensing you don't... like this Wendy person?"

"She... well let's just say I'm quite glad she is back in her own world." Tink offers and quick to avoid any new questions she suggests, "Would you like something to eat? I'm quite adept at foraging."

"Sure... okay." Emma says with a frown. "What about your... friend? If they come back won't they be... I don't know... upset that you left us alone?"

The fairy smiles. "That is why I'm sealing the door when I leave. I know better than to leave a cunning witch to her own devices."

"Witch?" Emma repeats in question with a raise of her brown. "I'm not a witch."

"That's not what I heard." Tink says with a sly grin as she swiftly makes her way out of the shelter. The door shuts with a slam behind her.

The first thing Emma does is try the door. She pulls hard at the knob but it does not budge. Then she makes her way over to the small window and attempts to open it but its sealed shut. "Damn." Emma mutters to herself. "Fairies." She says in annoyance. She makes her way back to Regina who is now resting on a small cot. She seats herself on the edge of it taking a moment to look her over.

It made some sense now that Regina and Emma were knocked unconscious when that first blast occurred and her parents went missing. This fairy's magic was volatile and raw. Regina must have taken the brunt of that not just now but the first time as well seeing as how she took so long to come to her senses.

Emma reaches out to grab at Regina's arm and rather than shake her awake this time she tries nudging her gently. "Regina." She says in an equally gentle tone. "Regina wake up." She repeats while nudging her once more. "If you don't wake up I'm just going to shake you." She suggests quite seriously but still Regina does not wake. "Quit messing around Regina, wake up." She starts to say as a slight streak of panic strikes up within her. She takes a firm hold of Regina's shoulders but before she can attempt to shake the woman she gets shoved off of the cot falling to the floor.

Regina leans over the side of the cot to eye the blonde. "I'm awake." She says quite groggily.

"So I see." Emma says as she sits up. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Regina offers a bit annoyed. "Where are we _now_?"

"In 'The Wendy House'... waiting for Tinker Bell to get back." Emma says with a small smirk.

"Tinker Bell?" Regina asks quite confused.

"Tinker Bell the Fairy." Emma confirms with a nod as she stands up. "She's the one who's been attacking us with her magic. Actually she thought you were me."

"Why would she think that?" Regina asks skeptically.

"Because no one knows who we are and she was told to attack Emma. Apparently she thought that meant I was some sort of evil threat."

Regina raises her brow. "Is that so?" She muses. "... and who does she work for?"

"No clue." Emma says with a frown.

"And why exactly are you just sitting here waiting for her to come back?" Regina asks as she swings her feet to hang over the edge of the cot to touch the floor.

"Well... it seems we're being held prisoner. The door is sealed and I can't open the windows."

"Didn't think to put your back in to it?" Regina drawls with a smirk standing while rubbing at her neck.

"It's all sealed... _magically_." Emma says rolling her eyes.

Regina puts her hands out and tries to blast the door open but nothing happens. Everything simply remains intact. "How can a simple fairy have this kind of magic?" Regina asks skeptically as she looks at her hands.

"Well if you can't do it with _your_ magic... how are we getting out of here?" Emma asks with a purse of her lips.

Both women jump in surprise as the door suddenly bursts open and a familiar voice calls out in suggestion. "Well you could always ask me nicely."


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

"Where the hell did _you_ come from?" Emma asks with quite the pleased smirk as she steps forward only to be pulled to a stop by Regina's grip on her wrist. She turns to look at the woman who seems a bit uneasy but Emma chooses to ignore this focusing her attention back on their rescuer.

"Am I not a man who excels at surviving? Capture is merely part of my process." Hook offers with a smug smile.

Emma smiles back stepping closer to him. "Yeah... but how did you get that door open?" She asks eyeing him up and down.

"I simply pushed. Is that now how a door works?" He offers sarcastically with a playful tilt of his head.

"How did you know we were here?" Regina asks with an angry frown.

"Do you both wish to stand here wasting precious time with questions or shall we get a move on?" He asks dipping his head, gesturing for them to exit as he stands by the door.

Emma merely makes her way out while Regina takes her time, being sure to glare at the man who winks at her as she walks on by. There was something different about him that she couldn't quite make out and she was never one to let her guard down.

When Hook finally makes his way out and leads them down a dirt path behind the hill Regina takes some time to watch him as he walks. He leads them on looking back every so often to make sure they were still there. For someone who had always been able to deceive both friend and foe he was doing a terrible job of hiding his nervousness now.

Emma notices how Regina keeps back as they move forward. She looks over her shoulder several times trying to gauge her expression realizing quickly that something is going on in that head of hers. She holds back a bit until Regina catches up to her. "What's up?" She asks in a hushed tone as they keep walking.

"There's... something not right here." Regina says as she wrinkles her forehead.

Emma follows Regina's line of sight, "You mean with Hook?"

"I don't trust him." Regina says simply.

Emma smiles, "He's a pirate. You can't help that."

"No. No something isn't... he's not who he says he is." Regina mutters now in frustration.

Emma sighs and stops walking. "Then who is he?" In a split second she realizes what she is saying. Of course, in another land with magic there is bound to be someone else that can shape shift. She turns back around to look at the man who has stopped up ahead to wait for them.

"Ladies is there a problem?" Hook asks them with an impatient frown.

"Where are we headed exactly?" Emma asks to deflect from the situation. If Regina was right they needed to think fast.

"To... where I last saw your parents." He is clumsy to provide.

"You've been gone a while now." Emma suggests to him. "… who said anything about finding my parents?"

"Well... they aren't here now are they? I simply assumed..." He offers with a shrug.

"... and how do you know where they are Killian?" Regina asks narrowing her gaze at him, fully convinced now that they are being played. This man was too fidgety, nothing like the cool and calculating pirate she remembered him to be.

"I... I saw them where... where I was being held by my captors." The man offers in a hesitant stutter as his eyes dart around. He clears his throat and does his best to put on an angry front. "The longer I stand here entertaining your questions the more chance we have of getting caught." He suggests. "Let's get a move on Loves."

At this a slight breeze passes through the dim forest and the sun peeks through the tree tops. Regina's eyes widen in surprise. It wasn't the presence of something more a lack thereof as her gaze falls to his feet. Hooks shadow did not cast. Once again Regina grabs a hold of Emma's wrist to keep her close as she grits her teeth and grounds out, "Who are you?"

Panic only crosses the man's features for a second before he collects himself and offers a more generous smile. "Madam you most certainly know who I am."

Regina tilts her head as if thinking on it. Did this mean it was someone she knew or was this merely a mind game?

"It's a trick!" Emma confirms aloud as they see movement in the greenery around them. "Go... Now!" She shouts urgently as she shoves Regina to get her to start running.

Emma leads them away from the path and from behind them they hear, "Just get the dark witch. That's the one he wants!"

At hearing this Emma then turns to make sure Regina is still beside her. "Regina... we gotta get out of here." She turns around to see who may be following and it seems several figures were getting closer. "Fast," she adds doing her best to dodge the trees and shrubs around them.

Regina casts her gaze up. In an instant she catches a glimpse of a cliff-side cave in the distance. As they run she realizes their best chance of escape is to literally disappear. "Emma!" She shouts as she does her best to meet eyes with the blonde. "There!" She gestures with a quick lift of chin.

Confused Emma questions through ragged breath, "How?"

Regina is too breathless to let escape a scoff so she rolls her eyes instead. "Magic..." she manages to hiss.

"I could barely do that standing still... you want me to do that while running?" Emma huffs out as they continue to make their way forward.

Regina growls quite audibly before she moves closer to Emma and grabs her by the arm. Once she's got a good grip in a puff of her purple smoke she sends them to that very cave.

Emma allows herself to fall to her knees in a groan. "I really... hate... running." She breathes heavily now as she watches Regina lower herself against the cave wall.

"I told you something wasn't right." Regina says as she sits and puts a hand to her heart, leaning her head back against the cold wall of the cave.

"So… what gave him away then?" She asks meeting eyes with the woman as they both struggle to catch their breath.

"He... He didn't have a shadow?" Regina is hesitant to reveal.

"What?" Emma asks.

"He didn't have a shadow." She repeats. "I mean I thought I noticed something off about him from the get go but... just a while ago..." Regina says with a grimace. "You know for someone who can tell when people are lying you missed that one." She points out in annoyance.

"I'm sorry..." Emma says widening her eyes to emphasis this. "I mean he always acts... strange to me." She suggests with a shrug. "But even when I don't trust him... I sort of trust him… ya know?"

"Yes... why is that I wonder?" Regina asks narrowing her eyes at the blonde.

Emma tilts her head to question. "What's that supposed to mean?" Regina merely raises her eyebrows with this sort of knowing expression.

"Your parents seemed to think you both had a lot in common. What was that all about?" Regina offers in reply.

Emma brakes out into a surprised smile. "What are you getting at here?" She laughs. Clearly she had to be mistaken but it sounded almost as if the woman were jealous. She never showed an interest in the pirate before, not that anyone ever really paid attention to that though. "You think he and I… are what... an item?" She asks in complete disbelief.

"Well he sure did make you forget about losing Neal now didn't he?" Regina drawls out arrogantly without really thinking on it.

Emma's face goes void of emotion then.

"Emma..." Regina frowns and then offers in retract, "I didn't mean to say that..." her eyebrows knit together.

"Yeah ya did." Emma says pointedly as she lets out a tired sigh.

Regina shuts her eyes and turns her head. " No Emma..." She whispers as she tries to apologize once more.

"It's fine Regina. I don't expect anything from you." Emma offers waving the woman off. "So just save your apologies for the people who need that sort of thing. I don't even know what your angle is here… afraid I'll take the only eligible man around?" She says but now she lacks the humor she was using earlier.

"Wouldn't be the first time…" Regina mutters lowly.

"Excuse me?" Emma asks in surprise.

Regina, ever a glutton for punishment, can't help but rub some salt in to that wound. Misery loves company after all and it wasn't the first time they took an interest in the same man. "You might have guessed that Graham's death was no accident." She says quietly.

Emma's eyes widen in surprise at the sudden change of subject but it is also a subject she does not wish to discuss especially not with this woman. "Regina." She says her name in warning. She was playing a dirty game now. These weren't the same sarcastic blows from earlier.

"He came to me one night… he… told me things. He was remembering things from our old world." Regina says in a distant tone.

"Don't…" Emma warns again.

"You were weakening my hold on him... weakening the curse." Regina continues in her recounting. She lowers her gaze to the ground as she senses Emma's motions in getting to a stand.

"Stop it." Emma says through clenched teeth as she points at the woman daring her to continue.

"That could only have happened because you..."

"I said stop it!" Emma yells as she trembles angrily. Her voice echoes throughout the cave. She looks down with a gasp seeing her own magic radiating from her hands. She waves them about as if they are on fire, willing the magic to extinguish. Her anger now mixed with slight panic.

Regina flinches where she sits but she can't seem to stop herself. "You loved him." She suggests in a low sad voice finally looking up to meet eyes with a visibly angry Emma.

"What are you doing?!" The blonde suddenly shouts. "Why are you bringing this up now? I don't have time to run away from imposter pirates and argue with you!" She continues to shout as the woman sits quietly doing her best not to react to that shouting. "What do I need to do to get you focused here? You want me to tell you that we all hate you? That your son had you pegged all along? You want me to _HELP_ you feel sorry for yourself now since I wouldn't let you throw your little pity party earlier... Is that it? I already told you I'm not my mother. We're not gonna sit here and rehash all the crap from the last year. We don't have time for this!" She says with a hiss before she turns and starts to pace a bit not wishing to speak on this anymore. She was simply too riled up and her magic was vibrating within her.

"No… I…" Regina says as quietly as she can. "I'm..."

"Stop." Emma snaps. "Just... stop apologizing." She says through her teeth as she sighs loudly and puts a hand over her eyes. "My magic is... flaring up or something." She explains with an angry wince. "Give me a minute to... get a hold of myself."

Regina was all too familiar with that feeling, the rush of magic that comes to you in a fit of rage. It was her first experience with her own magic after all, having been pushed in to action by her own mother on her wedding day.

The silence remained quite deafening until Regina got the courage to speak up again. "They..." Regina starts to say in a broken voice, mostly likely due to having just been berated. She clears her throat. "They said something about... the dark witch. That... she was the one they want. They want me?"

"Yeah, but we have no idea who _they_ are." Emma says as the remnants of her anger seemed to have left her now. She goes to sit down next to Regina and lean against the wall of the cave.

"If I give myself up to them..." Regina starts to suggest. "You could possibly follow them. You'll have time to find Henry, to find your parents and leave."

Emma looks over at the woman who seemed utterly helpless. It was apparent to her that this little spat was simply a last ditch effort for Regina to distract herself. It seemed an awful like she was giving up. Emma takes in a deep breath and let's it out in another sigh. "I'm not gonna let you do that."


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

"Well what if I give myself up without your consent?" Regina says quite bitterly. "I'm not a child. You cannot prevent me from doing so… and we both know that my life holds less value than yours does."

Emma rolls her eyes. "How is that?" She indulges the woman's line of thought.

"You're the savior. Everyone wants _you_ to succeed. Everyone fights for _you_."

"So that's why you wanna quit now... because you think the fight isn't worth it? What about Henry?"

"I'm here to help get Henry back and if giving myself up gets him out of here then I'm willing to do that." Regina says now with a defiant lift of her chin trying her best to seem imposing.

"No… see… there is a difference between sacrifice and giving up Regina, and right now it sounds like you are just giving up."

"There isn't any difference." Regina says with a dismissive wave of her hand and then to defend her argument she points to her feet. "I worked hard to have someone in my life that would need me and quite possibly love me. Henry is my son. I raised him. I love him. I have always loved him. If I have to give up now to save him I will. If that's what I have to do for him to see that I love him I will. I'm not like you. All you had to do was move in to town to win people over... to win _him_ over with your heroics." Regina confesses quite defeated.

"Wow." Emma says with a dip of her head to keep from letting out a rude laugh.

"What?" Regina snaps.

"You are so far off right now." Emma says with a shake of her head. "The only reason people think I'm worth anything is because I had to fight for it. I've spent most of my life leaving people behind, running away… giving up. I only cared about myself. It wasn't until Henry came to find me that things suddenly changed. I had to fight for him. I had to fight for my family. I had to fight to live up to the person everyone thinks I am. You don't get anywhere when you give up. You of all people should know this. We just went over how you are a survivor." When Regina merely shrugs her comments off she offers, "Giving up is the easy way out Regina. If we're going to get Henry and get out of here we have to do things the hard way." Emma lets out a slight chuckle after saying this. Those were not her own words she used just now. Regina gives her a pointed glare and Emma shuts her eyes in embarrassment. "Maybe my Mom's optimism is sort of rubbing off on me."

"Careful of that Dear." Regina offers in a sarcastic tone.

Emma smiles and then shrugs awkwardly. "We'll figure something out. No one is getting left behind. No one is getting offered up. We aren't even sure any of that will be useful to us right now." She says now as she gets to a stand. She takes a quick look around this cave noticing how it widens as it goes. "Do you think something lives in here?" Emma asks as she turns around to question the brunette.

Regina slowly gets to her feet as well, dusting herself off. "If it did I think it would have made itself known by now with all the yelling you did."

Emma rolls her eyes. "Yeah well..." She offers as a halfhearted reply taking a few steps further in to the darkness of the cave.

Regina for her part produces a blue orb of light and sends it off floating before them.

"Neat trick." Emma says with a smirk. She takes a few steps further in to the cave now with the assistance of that light.

"What is all of this?" Regina asks as she looks to the walls. There are markings in what look like soot or dark chalk.

"Neanderthal cave paintings?" Emma suggests with a slight chuckle. "Maybe even some really drunk Neanderthals?" She says as she steps closer to inspect these drawings. There were some less than discernible scribbles on the wall but those that were clear were drawings of flamingo like birds, odd looking sea creatures, mermaids, a ship and several drawings of men. One man clearly had a hook for a hand.

As the two walked further in to the cave they came upon something that looked like a stone table and on the table were rolled up scrolls of paper, a few scattered about on the floor of the cave, and more stacked underneath the table. "What do you think these are?" Emma asks as she goes to reach for one from the table. Regina merely shakes her head and shrugs. Emma then goes to unroll the one in her hand when she sees one already flattened out on that table. "Can you get your little… blue light over here?"

"What is it?" Regina asks as she looks over Emma's shoulder.

"It kind of looks like… a… map? Maps... Pirates..." Then Emma laughs before she questions. "Do you think this is where Hook use to hide out?"

"It would explain the man with the hook drawing." Regina suggests throwing a thumb over her shoulder. "Possibly a self portrait." She adds with a breathy laugh of her own.

"This sort of looks like the beach we were on earlier. It met up with a flat topped cliff didn't it?" Emma says pointing to a spot on the parchment.

"Yes." Regina agrees as she steps in closer to inspect the map. "There is the Wendy House." She says touching the spot on the map.

"So this is the trail behind it where the shadow-less Hook imposter was leading us." Emma traces her finger over the trail's line and realizes it ends where this page it torn in half. "Crap."

"Such is our luck." Regina suggests as she takes a step closer to the stone table reaching out for another parchment. She loses balance as she does so leaning quite heavily to one side but she is held in place by Emma's hand at her elbow.

"You alright?" Emma asks as she helps the woman straighten out.

"Yes... I'm..." Regina shakes her head and shuts her eyes. "I'm fine."

"Maybe you need a break." Emma suggests as Regina pulls her elbow out from within her grasp. It is a very slow motion.

"No no... I'm fine." Regina insists again with a slight shake of her head.

"You keep saying that." Emma says as she watches the woman struggle to get her footing. "Regina... you didn't really get any rest after the whole Greg Mendel thing... and we just ran a good ways before you used your magic to get us up here. I really think you need to rest."

"What about you?" Regina asks with a tilt of her head not liking the idea of appearing weak.

"I'm not the one who suffered fairy magic at full force. I'm fine." Emma says with a raise of her brow. "Thanks for that by the way." She says now meaning to thank the woman for how she stepped in to take the force of those magical blows.

Regina rolls her eyes not wanting to acknowledge the fact that she had done so out of some sort of misplaced protectiveness. Emma lets out a breathy laugh at the woman's reaction. She really had to be tired to behave this way now. "You rest. I'll try and find something useful in this mess."

"Wake me when you do." Regina says with a frown as she starts to seat herself down against the cave wall. _'Wake me... WHEN you do?' That sounded almost too optimistic_, Regina thinks to herself.

Emma takes a moment to watch Regina as she settles herself down. She truly expected the woman to be a bit more difficult when she suggested she rest but there she was lying on the stone cold floor of the cave. Emma shrugs it off and moves her attention to the orb of light Regina conjured wondering how long this sort of thing might last. She reaches out to it and the closer her hand gets the brighter the light grows. She draws her hand back quickly not wishing to extinguish the light and then have to wake Regina to ask her to bring it back.

She focuses then on the stacks of scrolls doing her best not to rustle them about too much. She unravels a new one to examine it and moves over to the orb of light. This one was a drawing of a sun with a happy face and silly things a child might doodle. Emma smiles as she puts that down to grab another which turns out to be a tracing of a hand.

After a while the drawings on parchment seem to meld together in a mess of children's doodles so in an attempt to rest her eyes from this she moves back to the wall with the cave drawings on them. She looked a bit more closely at the figures that represented a group of men, most likely Hook and his former crew. One character in particular seemed out of place. Either they had a short man in their crew or that was a young boy. The boy was pointing a sword at Hook. She reaches out to trace the figure with her finger, trying to understand the mystery of it all when the sound of a deep breath calls her attention back to Regina.

She looks over to find the woman possibly sinking further in to a deeper sleep, the sigh most likely a factor of her body relaxing. Emma then makes her way back over to the stone table looking over her shoulder at Regina once more before diving in for a new piece of parchment.

After another long half hour or so of shuffling through the same stack she decides instead to go for the group under the table. She sits herself down using one side of the table as a backrest. The next piece of paper she unravels has two others bundled behind it. The first page of it is handwritten. It isn't the most wonderful of handwriting but it's legible enough. It seems to be the firsthand account of a young boy's journey after losing his way from his father and his homeland. He soon finds himself wandering the streets of a place called London and later to a closet space in the busy home of "The Darlings" made up of a mother and father with four children, a girl and three boys.

The tale goes on to chronicle a kidnapping of sorts by a shadow figure where he is soon dropped in to a body of water to later be rescued by a pirate crew led by none other than Captain Hook. As she reads on Emma can't seem to shake the feeling that this story is somewhat familiar. There's no way this story could possibly be about… "Neal?" Emma questions aloud. At the sudden realization she stops reading and simply stares at the paper in her hands. She thinks back to his face, the face that haunts her dreams now, Neal's regretful expression before he falls through the portal to _'who knows where'_ only to meet a certain death.

"No." Regina whispers and Emma's eyes snap over in her direction.

"Regina?" Emma questions quietly as she sniffles away the tears that had threatened to escape her. She crawls over to the woman realizing she is still very fast asleep. She keeps her eyes fixed on her now waiting to see if she moves or wakes up and just as Emma is about to put her hand on the woman's arm she speaks up again.

"No." She says now just a bit more aggressively than before, her face showing signs of distress. Emma then decides it best not to touch the woman for fear of what sort of reaction that would get her. This sounded a bit like the onslaught of a nightmare but for someone like Regina what did that entail? Not that Emma wanted to know the inner workings of this woman's brain. She wasn't her mother as she kept suggesting and unlike her mother she didn't need a reason to relate to this woman. That was between Regina and Mary Margaret. Whatever was running through this woman's mind now was a struggle all her own but as she watched the woman's face she was not expecting to see the tears.

While Regina was not opening sobbing the tears were steadily streaming. She was quiet now save for the shallow breathe she was taking in. When she inhaled sharply it only provoked a coughing fit which caused her sit up abruptly. Slowly her eyes flutter open as she put a hand up to cover her mouth, gasping to breathe properly through that fit of coughing. It wasn't until she focused her eyes that she realized Emma was there kneeling before her watching.

Regina's face expresses some slight confusion, confusion soon turns to embarrassment, and that embarrassment is then masked by an angry frown. She turns away to wipe at her cheeks with the back of her hand. She clears her throat a few times before she lifts her eyes to meet those of the gawking blonde. "Did you…" She clears her throat once more, "Did you find something?"

Emma stares for a moment longer with her mouth agape until she realizes how uncomfortable the other woman is now, "Oh... I..." she stutters before she remembers the question. "I think I might have found something." Emma finally says as she tries not to focus on the other woman's discomfort. She moves to show Regina what she had been reading.

"What is it?" She whispers in confusion as she takes the paper that is offered to her.

"It's... I think Neal wrote this." Emma answers just as confused.

"Neal... Gold's son? Your..." Regina isn't sure how to finish that statement. "He's been here before?"

"Yeah... when we were in Manhattan he knew who Hook was. He said something about how our world or... _my_ world," She corrects "... was not his first stop. He met Hook when he was a boy."

"So if he's been here and was able to go back... to meet you..." Regina says in realization.

"There's definitely a way for all of us to get out of here." Emma finishes.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

"There's more I just... I didn't get a chance to look at it yet." Emma says as she feels around for the other pieces of parchment that had been bound together with this handwritten one. The second page was a list of names, among those was Tinker Bell.

"Tinker Bell." Regina says as she points to the name. "The fairy?" She suggests in a question and Emma nods.

"Says here she's got quit the little attitude. She's likely to switch sides as well as temperaments at the drop of a hat. She sounds a lot like Hook." Emma says with an amused smirk. "Suddenly her calling me a _witch_ all makes sense. She was being cheeky with me after helping to move you and she was helpful only seconds after she attacked us. She sounds like… well… someone with mental health issues."

"So what does it say about Hook?" Regina asks mostly out of curiosity.

Emma frowns not able to find his name on the list. "I'm... not seeing his name here... but you know the cave drawings..." She reminds as she gestures in that direction, "There's a figure pointing a sword at Hook. I'll be that was Neal. Must not have been a great rescue. The story doesn't go in to detail about it and he didn't tell me much other than that he knew Hook. Neil must have drawn all this thinking he might not ever leave." '_… Or that he might come back someday?' _Emma thinks to herself. '_Why leave notes behind?_'

Regina grabs the list of names from Emma. "So who else is on this list then?" She muses aloud as she looks it over. She takes a moment to scan through the names and while Peter Pan's name is on the list she skips over it to focus instead on the words 'The Shadow'. She reads the description aloud, "Peter's balance between light and dark was lost when he was separated from his own Shadow... Emma..." She says to get the blonde's attention though she had it the minute she started reading. "When Peter is separated from his shadow he tends to lose his way and so the road to what is good is lost to him. His shadow lives and thrives much like a separate person but its ways are far more dark and sinister. Without a conscience to guide him he tends to lead Peter astray. Peter's magic relies mostly on fairy dust but Peter's shadow seems to have no such limits."

Emma takes the first handwritten page from Regina's lap. "Hold on a second... I thought I saw something in here about a shadow before." She then scans over the page while Regina takes the third page from Emma.

"Emma... this is another map." She says catching the blonde's attention once more. "This one looks more like something Henry might have drawn when he was in Kindergarten." She says with a small smile at the thought of her son.

"Does it at least show us what's beyond the point that was missing from the other map?" Emma asks as she quickly takes the map from the other woman. "Wait… this half … it looks identical to the other one." She says as she stands and heads back to the stone table where she left the original half of the ripped map. "He traced it and managed to finish it." Emma spins on her heel, "I think we've got something here." She suggests with a suddenly optimistic smile.

Regina is too caught up reading the story about Neil to react to her. She manages to find the part about the shadow. "Peter Pan's shadow seems to be one of the bad guys here." She deduces. "He's the one who brought Neil to this world. He dropped him in the water and Hook picked him up."

"Right." Emma says not really remembering as she had been too caught up thinking about Neil. "Uh… That's what I thought I read…" She says as she moves back to kneel next to the woman. "Let's look over this list of names again. We know who to try to avoid but do we have anyone on here we can trust?"

"Certainly not that Fairy." Regina offers in a huff as she focuses on the story once more.

"You never know. Remember... she is slightly bipolar." Emma says with a chuckle.

"If I get a hold of that little pest..." Regina starts to mutter.

"Oh... because you handled her so well the last couple of times." Emma teases playfully.

"I had her down. I even managed to hit her with a blind throw." Regina says as she throws a glare at the blonde who is still grinning to herself.

"It's alright Regina... I won't tell anyone you were dropped on your _ass_ by a little fairy." She offers holding in a chuckle.

Regina rolls her eyes. "So who was the Hook imposter then… this shadow-less man." She asks with a frown trying to change the subject. "Is he by chance on the list?"

"You know... that could have been anybody. I mean your mother was able to parade around as Lancelot in The Enchanted Forest. She fooled me and Mary Margaret into trusting her enough to learn our plan to get home." Emma points out.

Regina tilts her head and purses her lips in annoyance. "But I'll bet my mother had her shadow." She says now offering another one of those death glares which Emma ignores.

"Her shadow yes, her heart… not so much." Emma says making a cheap shot but she recovers with a suggestion. "So… let's just say that whoever that was back there had their shadow stolen from them. That leads us to a couple of possibilities. It could mean much like Peter Pan, that this person loses their sense of right and wrong. He'd be like a lackey... sort of like the heartless corpses your mother brought back from the dead to attack me and my mother when we were..." Emma points out once more as she thinks back on her time spent in The Enchanted Forest.

"In The Enchanted Forest…" Regina finishes for her. "Stop bringing up my mother." She warns with a frown. "I'm tired of you bringing her up only to talk badly about her."

"Yeah and I'm tired of you defending her but we both know that isn't going to stop any time soon... and I wasn't talking badly about her… _this time_. I was only pointing out the similarities in those situations. I'm really new to all this magic business _Regina_." She reminds. "I only know what I've seen or what you've been able to teach me so far." Emma offers in her own defense.

"I don't even understand how you have magic." Regina says quite bitterly. "Have you had it this whole time and simply done nothing with it?" She asks accusingly now.

"Uh… I think I would have noticed if I had it before." Emma says raising her eyebrows in surprise. _Was_ the woman really trying to scold her now? "I didn't even believe in magic until you admitted to trying to poison me and made me fight that dragon under the library." She says now throwing her own glare at the brunette.

"Which was all for naught." Regina says throwing a hand in the air. "Gold just wanted that magic to unleash it in to town. It didn't even give me _my_ magic back. I had to..." Regina loses her trail of thought and with a tilt of her head she looks at Emma. "You... you didn't have magic until he unleashed it."

"Okay… so I haven't always had magic. What a relief! You just managed to confirm something that I _already knew_." Emma says sarcastically. "Where are you going with this?"

"I just..." Regina shrugs. "Why didn't I get my magic back when Gold did... when you got yours?"

"Is this really something we need to figure out right now?" Emma asks standing up collecting all the sheets of paper that make up Neil's story in an attempt to fold and stuff them in her coat pocket.

"I had to use my mother's book to get my magic back." Regina admits. "Gold's magic..." She nearly growls as she utters his name. "His magic is dark and evil… so is mine. It's what he taught me. It can't be that I'm any less evil that he is. You... you haven't done any dark magic. You didn't even know you could wield magic. I just... I find this all very confusing." She wearily admits.

"Maybe..." Emma interrupts this little monologue Regina seems to have going. "Maybe it's because your methods have changed." Emma finally offers.

Regina rolls her eyes and exhales loudly through her nose. "We both know that isn't true." Emma gives Regina this look like she's remembered something but isn't sure how to explain it. "What is it?" Regina asks.

"It's just... when Tink knocked you out that last time..." Emma says trying to remember how the fairy worded it. "She said she could see my magic. She saw that I had light magic and that your magic was dark but..."

"Well of course my magic is dark. Did you forget who you were talking to?" Regina mutters angrily as she gestures at herself.

"You didn't let me finish." Emma says putting up a hand. "She said that you had dark magic written in you but it was not powerful. I'm guessing she only decided to attack you because she saw that little bit." Emma narrows her eyes in thought. "You're changing." She points out.

"Nonsense! Once you've darkened your soul you are marked... it only..." Regina starts to say with a dramatic shake of her head.

"Your soul... but what about your heart?" Emma asks. Regina averts her eyes not liking what the blonde is suggesting here. "Regina in the past few days or so you've not only come rushing in to get Henry back you've... you've managed to protect his family in the process. You're... doing... good." Emma says with a shrug of one shoulder. Regina only rolls her eyes now but Emma is adamant. "You are changing and maybe it's changing the way your magic works. Before the curse broke, when Henry was in the hospital and we almost lost him, you weren't thinking about anything else _but_ him. Henry... he's the reason you're magic is changing isn't it?" Emma asks though she's pretty sure she is right at this point.

Regina hadn't given it much thought. The curse broke and she managed not to kill anyone in Storybrooke. Even when Mary Margaret showed up at her front door begging her to she didn't. Sure that wasn't entirely for honorable reasons as she already admitted to the younger brunette that she wanted her to suffer, but it remained she had the will not to and she chose not to for the sake of Henry and his family. _'His family?' _She asks herself.

_"He's every bit your family as he is mine."_ _Mary Margaret had said to Regina. "... and like it or not we are now a part of that same family... Henry's family."_

_"Believe it or not there is a bit of magic in having a family." David had suggested. "That sort of magic might be the very thing to purify your blackened heart."_

It was odd how Emma managed to channel her parents' thoughts right now… odd and rather annoying. Regina is too lost in these thoughts so she is a bit surprised to find that Emma had been watching her with a small smile. Regina averts her eyes and frowns not liking the show of emotion she is allowing herself to put on. "So... do we have a plan of action then?" She asks to get the attention off of herself.

"Not a plan but now we know what we're up against... well... sort of. So I guess we should just make our way to Peter's camp. It's marked on this map and... we'll... see what we find?" Emma says with a shrug.

"You really just want to... wing it?" She asks with eyebrows raised.

"I don't know how to make plans. I'm not..." Emma sighs heavily. "I've never fought in an epic battle before. I'm not one of your fellow fairytale characters."

Regina purses her lips and suddenly manages to channel her inner Queen. "Well…" She takes a moment to conclude her thoughts aloud. "Apparently I'm going to have to teach you more than just magic. Get out that map." Regina says as she walks over to the stone table and her light orb follows her. Emma unrolls the three papers and lays the map flat on the table. "So this is where the Hook imposter was trying to take us... to... mermaids' lagoon? Pull out the list. Is there anything about that place that would be significant?"

Emma does as she is told scanning over the list of people looking for places of interest. "Uh... it doesn't specifically talk about that place but it says here the mermaids are loyal to Peter so I'm guessing we can scratch that off the list of places to investigate." She offers with a sigh. "Regina... we're the outsiders. There are going to be very few places that are safe for us here."

"Now who is giving up?" Regina says with a disgruntled frown as she meets eyes with the blonde.

"Look... we've done fine on our own." Emma declares childishly. "You haven't tried to kill me, you didn't get outwitted by that fairy, and we didn't get kidnapped by a shadow-less man. We're fine." She says but it's not very convincing.

Regina smirks and breathes out through her nose. _Just like her mother_, she thinks. "So proud." She says aloud in a low mutter as she takes a moment to think up a plan._ Shadows, Pirates, and mermaids…_ "Mermaids?" Regina questions aloud.

"I already told you… it says that they're loyal to…" Emma starts to say.

"No… not… not that…" Regina cuts her off. "I feel like I've heard something about mermaids before. Granted I've never been in a land with mermaids or met one but… for some reason I feel like I've heard a story about them." She says as she touches her chin in thought. She starts a slow pacing of the cave and it doesn't take long for her to recall that thought. "Gold." She finally says as she turns back round to face the blonde. "When you and Mary Margaret were stuck in The Enchanted Forest with my Mother… he sent Henry in to that Netherworld with a story about how he found the squid ink." She says pointing at Emma as if she had revealed something significant though the confusion on the blonde's face suggests otherwise.

"I'm sorry I don't get the connection here." Emma says shaking her head, a frown on her face.

"He told Henry that the squid ink came from the bottom of a bottomless ocean… that it was hard to find unless you were a mermaid or… well… Gold." She offers with an uncharacteristic shrug. "It explains his reasons for abandoning you and David after the ship was overrun. He must have taken off to replenish his supply."

"So he really _has_ been here before?" Emma says.

"It does make sense." Regina offers. "When Hook opened up the portal, when we first set sail to get here, your father asked Gold what we were up against. He had an answer. He's probably out there right now plotting something." Regina offers in her frustration.

"Yeah but is he plotting for or against us?" Emma asks in a grumble.

The two of them stand there together looking over the map and lists hoping for answer to just jump out at them until the silence is broken but a familiar voice.

"My how my ears are burning," Says the man in question appearing from the shadows of the cave causing both women to slightly jump in surprise.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

"Where the hell have you been?" Emma asks as she slowly makes her way to stand between Regina and a newly revealed Gold automatically sensing the tension in the air.

"Seems to me you think you have the answer to that. It's lovely to know that I was missed." Gold offers with a smug smirk.

"You could have helped us out you know? We've been running around dealing with… I don't know… Neverland's wonders." Emma says as she struggles to find her words.

"How did you find us?" Regina asks as she brushes past Emma to confront the man.

"Wait…" Emma whispers as she grabs hold of Regina. "How do we know it's really… _him_?"

"Oh it's him alright. He reeks of dark magic." Regina says in disgust as she looks him over.

"It matters not how I found you only that I did. Where are the others? David… Mary Margaret?" Gold asks as he moves his way over to the stone table.

"Hook?" Regina adds with her own smirk as she moves closer to the table as well. At hearing the pirate's name Gold barely contains the urge to snarl. "We don't know. He was taken away." She answers offhandedly.

"So were my parents." Emma adds as she comes to stand behind the two.

"What are these?" Gold asks as he takes up the handwritten list and map.

"Um…" Emma starts to say.

"Apparently these are mementos of your son's journey." Regina says as she turns to him to gauge his reaction to the news.

"Bae… he wrote all of this?" Gold says with what appears to be a genuine look of shock though it's only obvious to Emma because Regina pays no mind to that sort of thing.

"So you didn't answer the question… how did you find us?" Emma asks as she takes on her ever defensive stance.

"I don't owe you an explanation." Gold says with a lift of his chin.

"What?" Emma says in complete disbelief. "You abandoned us back at the beach… what the hell were you doing while we ran around fending for ourselves." She asks as her anger rises.

"You seemed to have taken care of yourselves just fine and I'm here now aren't I?" He suggests with a raise of his brown. "You would do well to control your anger Emma." He says as he gestures to her trembling hands with a dip of his head. She looks down to take notice of this and clenches these now faintly glowing hands into fists. "It serves you no purpose and lures trouble your way... just ask our fallen Queen here." Gold says with a satisfied smile as he looks to the older woman.

Regina steps forward then but instead of speaking in defense of herself she uncharacteristically goes to defend the blonde. "Emma has every right to question your motives…" She says with sincerity which surprises herself as well as Emma and Gold who both look to the brunette with slightly shocked expressions. She hurries to offer in distraction, "… and I find it rather suspicious that you found us when you did. If you've been here before why does any of this surprise you?" She says as she gestures a hand over the stacks of parchment.

Gold lets loose a low chuckle before he breathily responds, "I never said that I have been here before. It was you who suggested it." He says dropping his head so that he has to look up to meet the brunette's gaze. "Do you honestly think I would have let Bae remain here to suffer the wrath of some boy Pan. If I had the ability to come to this land back then things would not have fallen into place the way that they did… the curse would not have happened. I would not have deemed it necessary to manipulate you in to getting us to a land without magic." Then he smiles brightly simply for affect which works of course.

Regina surges forward but Emma is quick to hold her in place. "Just… calm down. You know he's doing it on purpose." She mutters in the woman's ear. "Starting to see where you picked up the habit." She adds and then hears the woman huff her disproval of that statement yanking free of her hold. Emma then sets her gaze on Gold. "You said we had it all figured out. If you weren't out there collecting… squid ink… then where were you?"

"You were correct in your assumption. I was in the market for the squid ink… among other things. Your only mistake is thinking I would head out to procure it for myself. There are others to do that sort of thing in this land. There are ways to get what you want in any world and this one is no exception. All it takes is a deal… which I have already made. All I have to do now is live up to my end of the bargain." He offers all too casually.

"Which is what exactly?" Emma asks in confusion.

"Me." Regina says as she stands up straighter and lifts her chin. "You made a deal with those… lowlifes out there."

"Oh they aren't lowlifes Dearie, and I would watch my tongue if I were you. They are, after all, the ones that hold your son hostage." He says with another smile.

"Wait... what do you mean?" Emma hurries to ask still not quite catching on to their conversation but she is then distracted, catching a glimpse of movement in the shadows of the cave. In reality it is 'A Shadow' moving toward Regina. "Regina!" Emma shouts in warning but it is too late.

Regina struggles within its grasp for it is not apparent to her how to fight back against something of this nature. She can't feel it between her own hands when she grabs blindingly at it but it certainly has a hold of her. It somehow wraps itself around her, pinning her own arms to her body. "No!" She shouts as she shakes her body to try and wriggle free. "No!" She shouts once more through clenched teeth. Her mouth is then covered to prevent her from calling out further. Her widening eyes meet with Emma's for a split second before she suddenly vanishes.

"Regina!" Emma shouts after her as she jogs forward to the spot the woman had just disappeared from but nothing of the shadow or the woman remains. "What did you do?!" She says in a growl as she slowly turns about to face Gold.

"What I had to." He says simply, unfazed by her anger.

"You… you just let them take her?" She says in a panicked gasp.

"What are you so worked up about?" He says with a dismissive wave of his hand. "She's the Evil Queen. She doesn't deserve your heroics. It's about time you realize that nothing good will ever come of her."

"I can't believe you just… you traded her off… and for what? Some stupid squid ink!" Emma says as she can't control her rage any longer. Her hands start to shake yet again as her magic vibrates within her. Sparks starts to pop from her finger tips and as she brings her arms back in an effort to strike him down, Gold strikes first sending her crashing against the cave wall. It is Emma now who lies unconscious where she is stuck to dream once more of a love now lost.

Regina is too stunned to react accordingly as she is thrown to the ground so she is simply unprepared to prevent a blow to her forehead as it makes contact with a boulder. She blinks a few times to get her bearings but is soon blinded by a blur, not to mention the trickle of blood streaming from the new gash. "Regina…" She hears a vaguely familiar voice call but she is too drained to react to it at this point. She keeps her eyes shut and allows sleep to claim her.

When Regina wakes some time later it is to the muffled sounds of a conversation. "She's the one with the power. She cursed an entire kingdom to another realm… to our world. She is the real threat here."

"I'm not so sure about that." Says a female voice. "Gold gave her up too easily."

"Exactly… why else would he give her up? Clearly he sees her for the threat she is." Says the first voice and Regina starts to recognize it. "This woman… destroys people. She rips families apart. It's what she's good at."

Sure enough when Regina opens her eyes she sees the familiar face of Greg Mendel. She keeps her eyes squinted as to not catch his attention. She goes to move her arms but finds that she is bound to a wooden table in the middle of a well-lit cave.

"You're letting your emotions cloud your judgment." Says the woman in a mutter.

Regina attempts to scan her surroundings with her eyes but is soon caught by the owner of that female voice, Tamara.

"Ah… it's nice to see you are awake your Majesty." The younger woman says as she leisurely strolls over to look down at the woman.

"I'll bet you're wondering right about now where you are?" Greg says with a satisfied smile as he too makes his way over to the woman.

"Where's Henry?" Regina asks as she tries to lift her head to get a better look around but the restraints on her arms keep her movement limited.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about him… as long as you cooperate he'll remain safe." Greg says as he tightens the restraints on her.

Regina attempts to feign indifference to this but she's weakened and winces a bit. "How do I know you haven't killed him already?"

"I think we both know he's far too valuable to just kill off." The man says as his smile grows brighter, purely content to have the upper hand.

Regina knits her brow in confusion. Just what did he mean by that? His tone clearly indicates this goes further than Henry just being leverage. "Why did you bring him here?"

"All in good time Regina… all in good time. Right now though I'd like to formally introduce you to your assailant… Peter Pan's Shadow." Greg says throwing a hand out in gesture as the shadow comes in to view, going so far as to float above them for affect. "He's a bit of a shady character." The man offers in a lame attempt at humor.

"And what of Pan… the boy who never grew up?" Regina asks her voice quite hoarse.

"Well… he's a bit… indisposed at the moment." Greg starts to offer with a smug smile but Tamara snaps him out of it by smacking him in the arm with the back of her hand.

"That's enough. Leave her to the lost boys. We have things to check up on." She says ushering him out of the cave's entrance as a pair of young boys wearing hooded cloaks come to stand guard. "Do not leave her unattended." Tamara says in parting.

Sometime later it is Emma who wakes from her unconscious state in the same cave she had watched Regina vanish from. She sits up and groans as she presses the palms of her hands in to her eyes.

"Welcome back Miss Swan." Gold says as he stands from where he had been perched atop the stone table. "You've been napping for quite a while now."

"Gold…" She grumbles while rubbing at the back of her head, trying to gain her equilibrium back as she gets to her feet. "You… what are you still doing here?" She asks in a weary mumble of words.

"First of all… I warned you to control your temper. It serves you no purpose." He says pointing a finger in the air for good measure. "Secondly I need you to understand that I am in fact on your side. Trading Regina was part of a plan that was enacted to save young Henry and start us back home." He says taking a few steps closer. "… and thirdly I'll need you to trust me a bit when I say that I have to get you out of here before we can speak any further." With that he suddenly grabs a hold of Emma's arm and in a swirl of light and smoke they appear near the water's edge of a shaded but unfamiliar place.

Still not fully in control of her limbs Emma drops to her knees on the dirt beneath her. She lets out a heavy sigh. "Where are we now?" She asks somewhat breathless.

"Where I intended you to be earlier… at mermaid's lagoon." He says as he gestures an arm in the air.

"What?! No… we can't be here. This isn't safe…. the mermaids…" Emma starts to argue.

"Are nowhere to be found." Finishes another familiar voice from behind.

"Hook?" Emma asks as her eyes instantly shoot to his feet.

"It's him." Gold says getting Emma's attention. "You're looking for his shadow aren't you?" He says lifting a knowing brow.

"How do you know…" She starts to question his insight.

"Dearie… I am cursed with vast knowledge let's leave it at that." Gold says to her dismissively as he makes his way toward the shore of this lagoon. "Now back to the plan…" he starts to offer.

"Why did you hand Regina over?" Emma interrupts him to ask.

"She's the distraction." Gold offers.

"No… you gave them exactly what they wanted." Emma starts to argue. "They've been trying to capture her!"

"Yes and if you would control that temper long enough I might be able to tell you exactly what it is they think they've got." Gold says glaring at the blonde now. Emma lets out a heavy sigh in an attempt to hold her tongue. Hook sniggers as he stands by to watch this exchange and Gold presses on in his explanation.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

As Regina lay strapped to the table she attempts to use her magic to break free but when the restraints start to glow she soon realizes they are more than mere straps of leather. She sighs in tired defeat, dropping her head back down on to the table. Her two hooded "_babysitters"_ stand a distance away at the entrance of the cave giving her plenty of time to look around and take in her new surroundings.

The cave is lit by torches perched in holders in the walls. It wasn't a huge space but it was isolated enough. There were several wooden chests and a large wooden chair up against the back wall of the cave but it wasn't apparent to what the contents of these chests might be. There was a tall boulder just beside the table preventing her from seeing out of the cave's entrance but she could make out the faint light of day where the two boys were standing.

She should be angry right about now but for some reason she can't muster that kind of energy. It wasn't surprising that Gold would somehow manage to be the person behind her capture for he has always manipulated and trapped her in some way or another throughout life. Yes she had thought about turning herself over but that would have been on her own terms and she in no way meant to be taken against her will. The fact that these people wanted her did present a few questions though. _What did she have to do with any of this? _She had nothing of worth to offer other than the fact that they want her captured.

Tamara comes back to the cave and gestures for the two boys to follow her. "Seems we aren't quite ready for you yet _Your Majesty_." She turns to the taller of the two boys. He has dark blonde hair peeking out from under his cloak. He keeps his head down only raising his eyes to look at the woman as she approaches. "Take her back to holding. We'll bring her back here when things are ready." She says this as she detaches part of Regina's restraints from the parts attached to the table leaving her in a form of leather-bound shackles. "Be mindful of her hands." She grumbles to them as she moves aside for them to help Regina sit up.

_Her hands?_ This suddenly gives Regina a hopeful idea as she looks down at her own hands. When the taller boy goes to grab her and move her to stand she takes a hold of his wrist in an attempt to manipulate him with her magic. The boy visibly flinches but nothing really happens. He then meets eyes with her and grins wickedly.

"Really Regina..." Tamara starts to say in amusement. "Did you think it would be so simple? You never learn from your mistakes do you?" She proposes with a chuckle, shaking her head at the notion as she walks off leaving them behind once more.

"She meant for us to keep your hands bound." The blonde says gesturing to her hands with a nod. "You cannot harm us in those wrist restraints. Whatever magic you have is nothing against hers." The boy says as he grabs hold of the woman's arm. The shorter boy grabs her other arm and they usher her forward. She moves along too confused by this to put up a fight.

The cave opens up to a beach camp of sorts with random tents and wooden shacks surrounded by a partial wooden wall meant to be something of a means for defense. She is pulled along to the largest of the dwellings furthest back in the camp. All the while she scans the area hoping to catch a glimpse of Henry somewhere.

As they make their way in to this large dwelling the taller of the two boys shoves her through the threshold causing Regina to nearly topple over. She is quick to turn around and glare at the boy. He only offers a rather satisfied grin as he says with a slight bow of his head, "My apologies... _Your Majesty." _The other boy laughs as well but their attention is called to another boy who stands near a set of barred cells.

"Don't do that." This boy says in Regina's defense and for some reason this causes the woman to feel some sort of recognition towards him. He has a certain body language that seems too familiar to ignore. The boy takes notice of her eyes on him and clears his throat uncomfortably while looking to the ground. "Just... leave her to me. I'll get her to a cell." He says reaching out to take the woman's arm but the blonde boy stops him.

"... so that you can let her escape like you did the pirate? No... I don't think so." He says pushing the other boy away. "I'll restrain her... you tend to the other prisoners in the next house. Go."

In being dismissed the young boy's face shows some apprehension and he meets eyes with Regina as if silently pleading with her for something. She keeps her eyes trained on him as he makes his way out. She is still uncertain as to why he seems familiar to her but she is soon pulled out of her thoughts by another shove forward. "Let's get a move on _Your Majesty_." Regina gives him an unimpressed look but moves in to the gated cell looking to the occupants of the next cell over.

Three young boys cower in a corner of the cell, fear shining through from their little eyes as they watch her settle in. "Who are these children?"

"They are none of your concern. You just get in here and behave yourself." He says nudging her to sit so he may attach her restraints to those on a stake in the middle of this particular cell. "Someone will be around to offer you some bread and water. Don't bother trying to escape. It'll only make things… less comfortable for you." He offers with a defiant lift of his chin before he turns on his heels for the door. She knew she had nothing to fear from any of these hooded boys. They were nothing but adolescent hoodlums but she would remain passive if only to find out what Tamara and Greg were up to.

Regina turns her attention back to the cell next to her and decides to question its occupants. "Are you alright? Did they... did these people hurt you?" She asks in what anyone who knows her was an uncharacteristic tone of concern. When they only lean further against the back of their cell she asks as gently as possible, "What is it?"

"You're a witch." One of the boys says in a rushed whisper as he points directly at her. He looks to be the eldest of the three. His dark brown eyes squinting as his messy brown hair hides his angry brow. At this point she couldn't stop her mind from trying to relate this boy to Henry at that age. Their physical features were too similar for her not to.

"I... I'm not a witch." Regina says with a slight wince intending to convince them otherwise but this boy clearly was not buying it.

"They said that you take people's hearts out and kill other kid's parents." The boy says again.

She frowns. Of course this would be the sort of story they catch wind of. Rather than defend herself for the umpteenth time, because these boys clearly do not know her, she opts instead for a distraction. "How old are you Sweetheart?"

The boy's expression changes at hearing this endearment from the woman. He takes a moment to watch her, his mouth gaping, before he finds the courage to reply. "I'm... I'm eight." He says in a stutter. "Are you going to kill my Mommy and Daddy?" The boy asks in the most heartbreaking of voices.

Regina gasps at hearing this question from such a young person. These boys were clearly traumatized but who wouldn't be after being kidnapped and dragged to some unknown land. Even if her words fell upon deaf ears she felt the need to reassure them somehow. "No. I'm tied up. I'm not a threat to anyone and I would never kill your parents. I don't even know you." She says sadly lowering her gaze.

"Then what are you doing here?" One of the other boys whispers in question.

"I came to find my son." She says as she lifts her head back up to look their way.

"You came to get him back?" The older boy asks in disbelief.

"Yes. He was taken from me." She says with a sad smile looking at the three boys now.

"She's not a witch… she came back to save her baby." The third boy suggests.

"She's too pretty to be a witch." Says the smallest of the boys as he shyly averts his gaze, Regina cannot help but smile.

That older boy's expression completely changes from one of shock to that of realization. His hunched shoulders drop back as he gains a new confidence and proceeds to engage Regina in conversation. "They told us that... our mommies and daddies didn't want us anymore and that's why we came here." He tilts his head as he frowns at her.

What sort of place was this that they kidnap children and put it in their heads that they've been abandoned? She knows her heart is working as it beats harder now. The pain of hearing the fear out of the mouths of these three little boys is simply too much for her bear. She smiles at him as a lonely tear streams down her cheek. "These people... they've taken my son and I came here to find him and take him back home." She says as they silently mull this over though it is the eldest of them she is speaking to directly. "I'm sure... that if your Mother and Father could have followed you here they would do the same. There is no doubt in my mind that your parents want you. Don't let these people..." She goes to encourage the boys but the door is flung open with a bang.

There again is the boy with whom Regina found a familiarity in earlier. He looks from Regina back over to the three boys who seem to have gravitated towards her cell. "What…" The boy starts to say but clears his throat suddenly taking on an aggressive expression. "What's going on here?" He demands. "You boys should not be talking to this... this witch. She's dangerous." He says but the anger in his voice falters as his nervousness shines through. He turns to look over his shoulder out of the door he just walked through. It's growing dark out and though there is movement it is from far away. He turns back to look at Regina before he reaches behind him to shut the door.

Regina watches with some confusion as the boy rushes to her cell pressing his face between the bars to whisper. "I have something to tell you." Regina's eyes are wide but she faintly nods to encourage the boy to continue. "Henry is here... He's alive. They're keeping him for some sort of experiment…" The boy suddenly stops speaking, his eyes widen at a sound from outside the dwelling. Regina's lips part in anticipation of his words but the door is flung open once more and the boy quickly jumps to his feet.

"What were you doing!?" A voice demands.

"Nothing. I was... she... she was scaring the boys. I..." He tries desperately to think up an excuse.

"You head over to the kitchen. Fetch these boys some bread and water." The boy demands of the other. "Now!" He adds when he hesitates.

"As for you..." He says going to open Regina's cell. "They are ready for you now." He says grumpily going to untie her from the stake.

"Don't hurt her!" The little boy in the next cell shouts.

Regina's head turns quickly to him. "It's alright." She assures him, heart melting at the thought of such a small thing rising to her defense. "He won't hurt me." She says with a pained smile. "You be safe." She suggests with a nod.

The hooded boy helps Regina get to her feet. She does so without a fight and meets eyes with the three boys who all lean up against the front of their cell to watch her be led away. The smallest of them offers her a wave goodbye and it takes everything in her not to cry.

"Why are those boys locked up?" Regina thinks to ask her escort.

"The Shadow hunts them and brings them here. I don't know why he chooses the ones that he does but these were the last three. He hasn't collected any new ones in days now." The blonde boy says. This is the same boy who escorted her here to begin with. It seemed he held more authority over the others the way he orders them around. Regina then decides to try to appeal to his better nature for what was a lost boy but an orphan and it seemed she knew far too many orphans to not know how they think.

"Were you... taken from your parents as well?" She asks trying not to trip along the way as the boy seems to be in a rush pulling her along.

"I don't have parents." He says in a mumble without looking back at her.

"No father?" She asks sweetly, trying to press information out of him. "No... mother?" She adds as she easily slips back in to her Evil Queen ways of manipulation. Appealing to children was something of second nature to her except where Henry had been concerned. She never tried to seduce him with her magical charms. She had always done her best to be his mother first and foremost, not a former Queen or some fallen sorceress, just Henry's mother.

"You shouldn't be talking to those children." The boy offers in a huff. "They'll learn to live without her... I mean... without parents. I did..." He offers with just a hint of sadness.

Regina caught his slip of the tongue. _'It was a Mother whom he was taken from then,'_ she thinks to herself as she presses on. "I'm sure... she loves you… even misses you still."

"Well I don't need her!" He says in an angry shout as he turns to face her now, the look in his eyes daring her to continue.

"I'm sure she needs you. A mother always needs... always loves her child." Regina offers not the least bit intimidated or affected by his sudden outburst. "Do you know what I'm doing here? Why I came to your land?"

"To take over for the shadow?" The blonde offers sarcastically. "I have no idea and I really do not care." He says turning back around to lead her on.

"I came here to get my son back." She says to him and that get's him to stop walking. He turns his head only far enough to give her a sideways glance. Still he says nothing as he continues walking but Regina knows she has indeed managed to hit a nerve.

The only thought running through his mind now as he thinks of all the boys who have been brought here… _No one ever comes for them._


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

"Wait a minute... you handed Regina over to rescue Hook?" Emma asks in complete disbelief. Hook only clears his throat and lowers his gaze to the ground while scratching at his chin. One might say he seemed to be acting quite guilty.

Though he does not take the time to confirm or deny this Gold acknowledges Emma with a statement of his own. "They think they need Regina for what they plan to do here."

"… and what is it that they… ?" Emma starts to ask but Gold waves her off.

"None of that matters." He offers her in a grumble clearly irritated with her immature line of questioning. "Emma, what I really need for you to understand is your magic. Given the way you nearly self-combusted back in the cave I'm going to assume that Regina has been attempting to teach you." He says trying to get her focused instead on this unspoken plan he seems to have put together.

"Well yeah… some stuff but… nothing really special." Emma says with a shrug as she props her hands on her hips.

"See the problem with that is the manner in which she has been teaching you. Regina learned magic from me. I influenced her and made certain her magic was as dark as it could be. She resisted at first but without anyone to guide her she… simply… allowed it. Her pull to dark magic was far too great for her to resist and that was how I managed to sway her. Now…" He says as he paces a bit. "I have warned you several times to control your anger and I assure you it wasn't simply to annoy you. This place, much like the enchanted forest, has magic. Before this shadow," He shrugs slightly at the name, "… took over, this place was filled with nothing but light magic, or as they refer to it here, Happy Thoughts. It was a place children were brought away to in their dreams. Of course you see now that there is quite a lack of children with any happy thoughts."

_Happy Thoughts? _Emma repeats in her mind. Regina nearly admitted to such thoughts when she cast the cloaking spell on the Jolly Roger. She suggested it made her feel closer to her mother. That was as close to a Happy Thought as the woman might ever get these days and Emma had felt it. "This… light magic…" Emma starts. "Does it… I mean can it… sense other forms of light magic?"

"Yes, it is the same with the dark magic in this land. It was how I found you and Regina. You were in that cave arguing with her when your magic bubbled up in a dark form. Your sudden rage created a burst so dark that I hardly felt Regina's presence. When you attempted to use it against me after they took her away I didn't want to risk that shadow coming back which is why I took it upon myself to strike first. They think of Regina as the dark one here and we have to let them go on believing it. They've heard stories of her and often times those stories get lost in translation. They think her to be this great and powerful sorceress but what they don't realize is that your magic can overpower hers as it is a mixture of both light and dark."

"Wait… I… I can do both?" Emma asks completely confused by this.

"True love has the capacity to be good and pure but it can also bubble up in the form of passion which harbors some slightly… negative energy." Gold says as he meets her gaze. "When you reach a point of rage you lose your light for a brief moment and anyone who can tap in to that dark magic can sense it. What I intend to do now is re-teach you so that they cannot sense us when we make our move. While I do that... our Pirate friend here is going to fetch his ship." He says gesturing at Hook who stands alone at the water's edge of the lagoon.

"Okay but what if I slip? What if that rage comes back? It happens to Regina all the time doesn't it?" She asks him though she is a bit skeptical herself at this point as to whether or not he can truly answer this question since she had recently just made the discovery that Regina's magic seems to be changing.

"Darkness is the only form of magic Regina has ever known… but should this slip up occur we are safe to practice here. Mermaids in this land were always seen as a threat but it wasn't the mermaids themselves that were the problem. This lagoon is an ampoule of elemental magic which affected the way these mermaids interacted with others. The squid ink was procured from this place as well as other forms of ingredients for potions and even a few curses. Magic is what you make of it so you can consider this place something of neutral ground. Others who can sense magic will not feel our presence and because the tale of the mermaids instills a certain fear in the native inhabitants we should be left to our own devices." Gold explains.

"What of my ship Swan?" Hook suddenly asks gaining their attention.

"It's in the same body of water where we abandoned it only… well… Regina cast a cloaking spell on it. She said her mother had used the same spell on it before." Emma offers with a grimace thinking this might present a problem for him.

"I can find my ship well enough no matter the magic." Hook says with a nod before he extends an arm to offer a bow indicating his departure. "Right, well… I'll leave you to your lessons then."

"Please… do try to keep yourself out of trouble if you can manage it." Gold offers this to Hook and the pirate merely rolls his eyes as he heads out in to the now darkened jungle.

As Emma watches Hook vanish in to the shadows of the trees and foliage she furrows her brow in concern. "If you traded Hook for Regina… where are my parents?"

"I never said that I traded her for him but I assure you that your parents are safe." He says simply.

"Safe... where?" Emma presses on not willing to accept this as an answer. "What aren't you telling me?" She adds with a bite.

"Emma…" He nearly growls out her name. "I need you to focus. If our plan falls in to place the way I envision it you will be reunited once more with your family. Now…" He says coming to a stop in front of her. "We have a long night ahead of us. Let's get started shall we?"

Regina is being led back to the cave she woke up in after her own kidnapping by The Shadow. The boy pulls her along and as they approach the table he seems to handle her with much more reverence than when he took her away from this very cave. He puts out a hand to help her on to the table, going so far as to push gently at her shoulders to ease her down. He meets eyes with her as his forehead wrinkles while he concentrates. He restrains her but does not fasten her down as tightly as before. "You really came here to find your son?" He quietly questions as he works to buckle a restraint across her chest.

"Yes." Regina answers as she searches out the boys eyes trying to figure out his current state of mind but he does his best to avoid that eye contact.

He is silent a few moments longer as if thinking on this but he offers up a new question. "You would risk coming here... knowing the danger to yourself?" The boy questions still not meeting her eyes.

"I know nothing of this land. I did not anticipate being captured. I don't even know why they have brought my son here." She says with a heavy sigh.

"Who is your son?" He asks now.

"Henry…" She says. "His name is Henry."

The boy's face visibly pales, his lips part in shock, and he finally meets her eyes. He opens his mouth as if ready to share something significant but he does not get the chance.

"Oliver." Tamara calls out to the boy as she enters the cave causing him to jump a bit where he still stands. "Is she ready?"

The boy turns around and pulls back the hood of his cloak revealing his scraggly blonde hair. "I told you that's not my name." He says with an angry frown.

"Fine then..." She concedes. "Nibs was it?" She asks eyeing the boy. "Is she ready then... Nibs?" She says the name with an exaggerated shake of her head.

"Yes she's... strapped down." He says lifting his chin trying to appear menacing. The distaste he has for Tamara is ever present in his body language.

"Good. Go and fetch Greg and his guest. I'll get started on her." Tamara says as she steps closer to Regina at the table.

The boy hesitates in his actions, turning to give Regina one final look before leaving.

"I'm not sure how you managed to live through the torture of electrocution given the way Greg dealt that out so passionately, but at least it gives us the chance to make use of you and your magic." Tamara says with a smirk.

"You should have thought of that before you put me in these... restraints. You've stripped me of my magic like you have done before." Regina says baring her teeth while tugging her wrists up fiercely for emphasis.

"Oh... don't you worry about that. These restraints are different than your Mother's leather cuff that Hook tricked you with. That is the thing about science… it is never set in stone. Whatever dark magic lurks about in you we can harness and put to a very _special_ use." She says with a smile.

"Mom?" A familiar voice questions interrupting the woman's trail of thought, Regina's eyes instantly shoot to the entrance of the cave.

"Henry." Regina says in a gasp and a small smile forms on her lips at the sight of him. "Henry, are you alright?"

"I knew you would come." He whispers his reply with a small smile of his own. He is pushed forward by the boy now called 'Nibs' and another hooded boy to the back of the cave.

Regina's eyes never leave Henry. They both know better than to continue with a conversation. There is no one here they can truly trust and so when Henry is shoved to sit down in the wooden chair there and strapped into it he only returns her gaze clearly debating on whether or not to question her in the presence of these people.

Greg comes to stand beside Regina watching her as she watches Henry. "It's a sad thing isn't it? To be separated from the one's you love?" He grin's wickedly as Regina turns to regard him with a glare. "I'm actually very relieved you managed to pull through since our last encounter. Everyone loves second chances and somehow having you lose what you love most right before your eyes will be much more satisfying than just killing you off." He says with a low chuckle.

Regina's eyes widen as she feels a sudden sense of dread, repeating his words in her mind. _"lose what you love most right before your eyes..." _and then her eyes burn as angry tears threaten to spill. _"That will not be happening." _She thinks to herself. _"Not again."_

She is being egged on, pushed to an extreme that she hasn't felt for some time, but the sudden intake of breathe from Henry is all it takes to douse those flaming thoughts away. She turns back to look at her son seeing the silent plea in his stare. She inhales deeply and lets out a heavy sigh. She has seen that look before. This was his way of asking her to, _"Have faith in me."_ Have faith that they would both get out of this so long as they remained trite and true for far too often has she lacked that faith. She is weary, nearly broken, but she will do what she must to remain in control for Henry's sake. She would be damned if she would let all of this hard work at reform and redemption go in one fell swoop especially when the object of her affections seems to be holding up just fine. _"Ever the little hero,"_ She muses with a pained smile still holding his gaze.

Again Greg Mendel watches this silent exchange between mother and son all too eager to tear them apart. "Alright… let's get started." He says to Tamara who approaches the table now with what looks to be several syringes and empty vials.

Greg moves to the chests at the far end of the cave pulling out what looks to be some sort of portable vitals machine. It was apparent now that Greg and Tamara had some help in planning. Someone took the time to transport modern tools of medicine if they had this sort of technology ready and waiting in a foreign land.

The man then moves to the table to get Regina hooked up to the machine before heading back to the wooden chests once more to pull out a second unit making his way over to Henry. If the presence of vital monitors was any indication, whatever was about to happen had the possibility to end very badly.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

There were several vials of Regina's blood lined up on a table next to a portable chemistry set. Henry seemed to be holding up just fine. Apparently his youth was keeping him from passing out like Regina has managed to in the past few hours.

While her captors work out some figures and test the blood samples Regina struggles to stay alert. It was no surprise that they threw all safe medical practices out the window, not caring how much damage they do to her here, but if she had the choice between dying of electrocution and being drained of her blood she would offer to allow Greg Mendel another chance to fry her here and now.

Over the course of these past few days she was struggling to keep it together and considering they had set sail for Neverland before she managed to recover from her first stint with Greg Mendel this made things that much difficult. Her first argument with Gold onboard the Jolly Roger took a lot out of her as it was more than just physically demanding to be able to strike him with her magic then. She endured hours of recount on her past with Mary Margaret trying to own up to her mistakes. She ended up physically hurting the woman and arguing with her several times before ultimately being subjected to the silent treatment which, as crazy as it sounded, did have some effect on her. She had been on the run with Emma while simultaneously trying to teach the blonde how to make use of her magic. She had a run in with that fairy who knocked her out cold several times and here she was on a table where these two fools were draining her of her blood like some mad science experiment. All she needed now was for Dr. Whale to show up to dismember and piece her together again.

She starts to hear mutterings from the two who still look over their notes at the entrance of the cave. She strains to make out what they are discussing now.

"I don't understand..." Greg mutters to Tamara as they hover over the table with their testing kits and vials in hand. "His blood mixed with hers should have worked."

"Well... I don't know what to tell you. The subject's blood is not reacting. Maybe it's not her blood that we need." Tamara suggests now with a frustrated sigh. "If that's the case this whole experiment is over. We can't proceed to the next phase without this."

"No... no..." Greg says shaking his head pointing to the wall of the cave. "The prophecy says that the boy would provide a cure through his mother's magic."

"Yeah but Emma is his mother... not Regina." Tamara reminds.

"Yes... but Emma doesn't have magic." Greg is quick to explain.

Regina in her tired state manages to hear Henry's sharp intake of breath, obviously understanding the mistake the man has made in his assumption. They both knew that Emma did indeed have magic and for some reason no one ever mentioned it to these two. As she meets eyes with Henry she offers a silent plea with a slight shake of her head. When he faintly nods his understanding she smiles weakly at him, happy that he could read her so well.

"The prophecy says that the magic is extremely powerful which makes sense because Regina's magic is powerful. She's cursed an entire town into an alternate existence. I was there... I remember. You don't get any more powerful than that and she's also technically Henry's mother as well. You know these things can be vague with the details. It's her." He says shaking his head then nodding adamantly. "It has to be her."

Tamara turns to look at Regina on the table watching as the woman's eyes flutter closed taking a chance to look over at the vitals monitor. "We gotta keep her stable if we plan to continue with our work here. Let's get her back to holding… the boy as well." She gestures for Nibs and his accomplice to come take Regina back. As they go to help her up her head lulls back. She is too weak to make an effort anymore. Tamara takes notice of this, "Looks like you're going to have to carry her back. Get her to eat something." She orders though there is not a hint of real concern in the woman's words.

Tamara watches them as they walk off before turning back to Greg. "Maybe because we have had her in those magical restraints her magic is too faded. We need to... jump start her somehow."

"We get her to perform dark magic?" The man asks skeptically with a wince. "I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"We've weakened her enough. She's been in those restraints for a while now. We didn't completely take the ability away like we did the last time. It's still in there we just need to get it active again." Tamara suggests assuredly.

"What makes you so sure it will work?"

"Do you have a better idea?" She questions defensively.

"Fine..." Greg relents as he tends to do for this woman. "How do we get her to perform dark magic without using it against us?"

"She has the ability to take hearts doesn't she?" She brightens up at the thought. "Get her to take someone's heart and crush it. She can then do some sort of magic to manipulate the dead body."

"Ah..." Greg says with a dastardly smile spreading across his face. "I think I've got the perfect victim for that. Let's make some preparations and we'll get her back in here. I think we'll need to have Henry here again as well... you know... for... motivation." His smile does not falter as they get to work.

Meanwhile Regina is taken to a different dwelling that is a bit more isolated. The boys settle her in to a cell within that dwelling before making their way back to take care of Henry.

"Regina." A voice calls to her and she feels a hand cradling her face, a thumb brushing her cheek. She tries to open her eyes but it takes far too much effort.

She manages to inhale deeply and as she exhales her eyes slowly open revealing that inexplicably familiar boy. "You again?" She questions to the young boy in a groggy mumble.

"Yes it's me… are you alright?" The boy asks as he bends down further where he kneels next to Regina on the ground.

"What happened? Where… am I?" She asks in a breathless whisper.

"You fell ill and they brought you here to rest." The small boy offers to her in a hushed tone as he anxiously looks up and around the dwelling. "Do you remember any of that?"

"I… was…" Regina winces and tries to put a hand to her head but both her wrists are still bound together in the magical restraints she's been lead away in time and again. She drops her hand back down to her belly and tiredly sighs. "They had me in a cave… on a table. I was hooked up to some sort of monitoring device and they… they… drew my blood and put it into several vials." She says in a faraway voice. "I… thought I heard Henry's voice before I blacked out the last time but that could have very well been my imagination."

"Obviously they took more of your blood than they should have." The boy says as he reaches out to wipe at Regina's forehead with a wet rag.

"You aren't like the rest of the lost boys here are you?" Regina carefully asks. "They seem to treat you quite... differently."

"I'm new and these boys do not like newcomers." The young boy offers with a shrug. "Tell me... do you... do you know if Rumple managed to find Emma?" The boy asks but Regina thinks she is mistaken.

"Emma was…" Regina suddenly stops in her trail of thought as she is now thrown by the question. While the rest of these boys seemed to know little about her this one seemed to know too much. She had not mentioned to anyone that she had been with Emma.

"Regina?" The boy calls to her gaining her attention. He goes to grab at Regina's hand but she is quick to pull away from him.

"Who are you?" She asks narrowing her eyes on him. "Why do you seem so familiar?" She presses as she finally manages to sit up, though it is an awkward motion due to her bound hands.

"Madam you most certainly know who I am." He says standing with his hands resting firmly on his own hips, a cheeky grin spreading over his face.

Regina's brow furrows in thought. She had heard this statement before, recently too, and her first thought is to set her gaze to the ground to confirm her own suspicions before she asks, "The… shadow-less man?"

"I'm not actually a man," Says the figure who transforms in to a now familiar fairy, "I'm more of a fairy." Tinker Belle says happily.

"You…" Regina growls out. "Why did you try to trick me and Emma into thinking you were Hook?"

"Ah the infamous Evil Queen doesn't like to be deceived? I had expected you to make an attempt to escape but you've done nothing of the sort. You haven't even put up a good fight since they brought you back here." She says as she walks about the cell.

"Maybe the fight has all been drained out of me." She offers with an angry frown. "What do you want then? Why have you been posing as others rather than yourself in interacting with me?"

"I actually have little choice in the matter. I'm bound to the shadow and I must do his bidding." Tink offers with a slight frown. "The only way to get to people without him noticing is by disguising myself."

"How are you bound to him?" Regina asks narrowing her eyes.

"When he rips away a shadow he keeps it and so he has kept mine. It makes him stronger. It helps to sustain him but in return the person is forever bound to him."

"You do his bidding yet you are here offering me your insight. You tried to tell me that Henry was here but you're helping these people to keep me locked up in this cell?" Regina offers angrily.

"I don't do any of this for The Shadow's benefit. I do it... for... my friend. I do it for... for Peter." The fairy offers in an overwhelmed stutter.

"Peter Pan?" Regina questions with a wince from sitting up to fast. She leans back once more and shuts her eyes a moment.

"Peter was separated from his shadow some time back by the Indian Chief's daughter, the princess... Tiger Lily. Her people... they... well they dealt with a certain breed of magic. It was neither light nor dark. It was... I don't know..." the fairy trails off with a shrug. "Elemental?" She finishes not knowing what to label it. "At Peter's request they performed a ritual that would allow him to stay forever young but as most magic does it came with a price. The price came in the form of his shadow becoming its own separate being. The Shadow grew stronger as Peter stayed the same. Later The Shadow itself was able to separate others from their shadows though it was a much more painful process than the Chief's daughter had used all those years before."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Regina cuts in not having an ounce of patience left.

"I need your help." The fairy says desperately. Regina frowns angrily but says nothing. "I know that... I attacked you but it wasn't completely my fault. I... I later tried to act as Hook the Pirate to try to convince you to come back without having to hurt you anymore. I knew that I was weakening you each time I initiated an attack. I figured you would trust _him_ enough to come back and I would convince you of willingly fulfilling the prophecy while still managing to perform the tasks given by The Shadow."

Well Emma had one thing right about this fairy. She clearly had some mental health issues as it was still unclear with whom her allegiance lay. "What is this prophesy? I thought I heard Greg and Tamara speaking of it."

"The Chief's daughter knew that eventually Peter might change his mind. That he would regret the cost of his decision not to grow up so after the ritual was performed she offered the words of a prophetic vision passed down to her by the ancestors of the tribe. The prophesy states that there would be a boy who would be the undoing of the dark one, though that is entirely left up for interpretation as there seem to be several dark ones at the moment who fit the bill. Either way… the boy would provide a cure to stop the shadow, ultimately restoring the light that once built Neverland. This Greg and Tamara think that the cure can work to eliminate all magic but that simply isn't the case."

"How do they think they will attempt to garner this cure?"

"That is also part of the prophesy. It was said that the mother of the boy would possess a magic so powerful it would eliminate the dark of this land and in the process restore Peter's shadow to his person. Peter is where the Happy Thoughts once originated for he was the first _Lost Boy_. His time spent among the mystical mermaids transitioned into him helping the fairies that once thrived here. They would use fairy dust to procure children for visits, only keeping those who were truly orphaned. The visits of these children helped to sustain those Happy Thoughts. We've already lost the chief and his tribe. I am one of the few fairies left in this land. The mermaids are gone as well. If they are successful in their creation of a cure they will test it on The Shadow which will kill Peter and then Neverland will fall."

"But that prophecy says nothing about the mixing of my blood with his..." Regina offers as she tries to follow the logic.

"No... Greg and Tamara are the ones that came up with the idea with their magical... _science_." She stresses the foreign word. "When I caught wind of their plan I knew I somehow had to convince you to help me. All we had to do was get you here but Rumplestiltskin..."

"Rumple? You were working with Rumple the entire time?" Regina asks in a rush.

"Not at first... He managed to make his way in to camp. He offered a deal in exchange for safe departure from the camp... among other things. They discussed for some time the prophecy and how it might come to take place. It was he who suggested they needed to get _you_ in their custody. He offered to get you to them but he wanted to seek out Peter before agreeing to anything further. I..." She hesitates. "I haven't been able to find Peter since your captors came to our camp but I managed to speak to Rumple. I offered to assist him in any way that I could so long as he would help me to restore Peter's shadow to him. It was he who convinced me that the best course of action was to attack both you and Emma. I was to subdue Emma and keep you for Greg and Tamara all the while ensuring that Emma somehow got back to Rumple."

"Did you not find it odd that he wanted to keep Emma?" Regina asks in a somewhat sarcastic way. "The prophecy says that you need his mother."

"Well... aren't you Henry's mother?" Tink asks with a tilt of her head, not understanding.

"I... I didn't..." She trails off deciding to start again. "I only raised the boy. Emma is his birth mother." Regina says as she holds back an eye roll, not enjoying having to confess these words.

"But your magic... Isn't dark magic the most powerful of all? I thought that you were the Evil Queen in your realm? The stories we have heard of you all say that you are... pardon my recollection here... a heartless witch who would just as soon kill her own mother and father to gain power."

Regina growls and shakes her head. "I am so tired of people twisting the stories of my past to use against me. I don't even know you and you certainly do not know me!" She shouts angrily and then nearly faints from the excitement. She shuts her eyes to try to gain her composure. "What is happening to me?" She asks feebly.

"You're still weak. You should rest. They are going to come back for you." She says transforming back in to the image of the boy. "I left you some bread and water." She says as she exits the cell and locks it up behind her. "If you aren't Henry's real mother then I need to find Rumple. I need to... get us some help."

"Us? I haven't agreed to help you." Regina sits back up to glare at the fairy.

"I didn't really expect you to..." The fairy offers sadly but suddenly she perks up as she warns, "Just remember that if they are successful, anyone who is still here when Neverland falls will suffer, and for some reason I don't think you have it in you to allow that to happen. Not if you truly care for Henry." The fairy then offers a smug grin before exiting the dwelling leaving Regina to think all of this new information over.

****I know I made Tink this confusing character but J.M. Barrie wrote that fairy's are so small they can't feel more than one emotion at a time. I made my Tink a little bigger so I decided... she'll just be a little off when expressing herself so... yeah. ha ha. :)********


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

It isn't long before Nibs and his assistant come back to retrieve Regina from her locked cell. She is brought back to the cave and instead of being led to the table she is made to stand as she is shackled to a spot in the middle of the cave. A short length of chain is used for this. As the boys snap the shackles together with the chains Regina looks over to find Henry now strapped into that table in her place. Greg then makes his way over to her.

"We'll make this really easy for you Regina. If you want to be certain that Henry lives through the rest of this procedure, which is quite possible, you can perform some dark magic for us." Greg says as he pulls forward a figure covered in a heavy hooded cloak. "You take this person's heart, crush it, and we'll make the rest of this as painless as possible." He says with an eerie smile. "I have a feeling you will appreciate the sentiment."

Regina says nothing as she glares at the man. He pulls the hood back from the persons head only to reveal a squinting Mary Margaret. She blinks a few times to adjust to the light in the cave but then she meets eyes with Regina.

Regina's face pales instantly as she realizes what has just been requested of her but she is quick to hide that shock beneath a mask of indifference. She inhales and exhales deeply as she watches Greg grinning at her from where he stands behind Mary Margaret. He pushes the younger brunette towards her now.

"Go ahead." Greg coaxes her with that grin still plastered on his face. "Isn't this what you have always wanted… the chance to end Snow White once and for all?" He taunts as he takes a few steps forward to grab Mary Margaret by her shoulders and shove her to stand just a little closer. "I'm practically handing her to you on a silver platter here. All you have to do… is take her heart … and crush it. I've seen you nearly do it to her once already… back in Storybrooke." He reminds her.

At that last sentence Regina hears a gasp from Henry and she doesn't have to see his face to know what he might be expressing. He hadn't a clue about what transpired between her and Mary Margaret that day. "Mom?" Henry whispers but she does not turn to acknowledge him or offer an explanation as the taunting continues.

"Like I said… I've seen you in action. Managed to get a video of it too so I'm sure you know how to do this. It will be exactly what you need to tap in to the root of your evil." He says snarkily. "The sooner you do that the sooner we move on from all of this."

Slowly Regina's eyes move to meet with Henry's now. He winces as he catches her gaze and his eyes shine with unspent tears. She blinks rapidly as to not cry herself and then looks down to the ground between her and Mary Margaret. If ever there was one this was a test. She can't lose Henry after all this time.

"Come on Regina. Time is a wasting. The longer you take to decide the quicker we will be to make some hasty decisions here." He says moving around to step behind Regina now. He leans forward to whisper in her ear, she can nearly contain her urge to snarl at the feel of his breath on her ear. "If you expect Henry to live through this then get going otherwise you all die and then what was all of this torture worth?"

Regina's brow knits in annoyance and she swallows hard. She chances a glance at the woman before her now who seems to be more composed than she should be. She remembers the agony the woman expressed as she stood on her porch that day asking her to take away the pain. Mary Margaret felt guilty and simply wanted it all to end. She remembers reaching in to the woman's chest and taking out her heart. It beat within her grasp and though she smiled through clenched teeth she was too distracted to relish the thought of her situation as she caught a glimpse of that one dark spot in the woman's heart. Suddenly the idea of ending her did not have the same appeal but it inspired a new route of revenge.

The idea that a simple manipulation of one human being over another could so quickly stain a heart was beyond baffling. The once pure and innocent Snow White had darkened her heart through the simple use of an enchanted candle. She put her heart back because she wanted Snow White to suffer the same way she did. She wanted her to know the darkness of this evil magic she had used. She wanted her to be punished with something she herself had been living with all along… the poison of dark magic.

Here she stands now in a cave with some misguided scientists of the modern world who offer her what she thought she had always wanted and all she can feel is hesitation as she knew her son was looking on. She could do this to save him yet he would resent her for it. She could reach in and take this woman's heart. She could kill her right now and ensure Henry's safety even if it meant her own undoing.

She meets eyes with Mary Margaret who stands there, her face nearly a blank slate as she holds Regina's eyes with her own. It was as if she were giving her consent to go through with this. It was an all too unsettling sight.

"Nibs… it seems the Queen needs a little motivation here." Greg offers extending his arm in the air to gesture at the boy.

The boy Nibs, for his part, takes out his dagger as he watches Regina where she stands. She never turns to look at him so she does not notice the regret he expresses as he leans towards Henry to put that very dagger to his neck.

"Go on then Regina. It's now or never. Do it… or Henry's gone. We can still make use of his blood. It's up to you." Greg presses as he watches in utter delight at how the woman struggles with herself.

"You know that if you do this... If you are successful with this little plan of yours you will die before you reap the benefits of it." Regina suggests trying to buy herself some time.

"What do you mean?" He asks only to humor her.

"If I do this and you harness this cure or whatever it is... you'll end up causing a self-destruct here by testing it on that Shadow." She says quite seriously before she thinks better of it opting for a more sinister approach. "Then again you failed to destroy Storybrooke with my fail safe." She offers with a smug grin of her own.

Greg manages to invade her personal space once again so as to speak to where only she can hear. "I don't know how you managed to stop that diamond but all that proves is how I am right. Your magic is what we need here. It is the most powerful magic of all since it helped you save your town." He says shaking his head angrily. "... and stop wasting time!" He barks out as he nods to Nibs who presses to blade of his dagger to Henry's neck once more.

It is with reluctance that Regina steps as close to Mary Margaret as the restraints will allow, looking to the place where the woman's heart should be. Slowly her eyes drag from that point in her chest to the woman's glazed eyes, her face still lacking in emotion as if she has already accepted this fate. Regina purses her lips and inhales. A slight wince appears on her features and then she suddenly plunges her hand in to the woman's chest.

"No!" Henry cries out as he struggles against the blade of the knife but he is held firmly in place.

There is a sharp gasp from Mary Margaret but she never breaks eye contact with Regina and she doesn't attempt to speak. Her breathing becomes ragged as she feels the strong grip on her heart and just when she feels a tug Regina quickly withdraws her hand and lets out a ragged breath of her own as Mary Margaret bends over breaking out into a coughing fit.

"I can't." Regina whispers as she keeps her eyes trained on the younger brunette, her own breath ragged from the mix of emotions she is feeling.

"You… can't?" Greg asks in confusion as his brows rise in surprise. "I'm pretty certain this is your forte Regina. Stealing hearts, tearing apart families, killing people… that's what you do." He says shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders. "Might even say you excel in these sort of evil exploits." He adds as an as he watches Regina. "Is it simply because your boy is watching?" He asks looking to Henry. "You… don't want him to see Mommy in all her evil glory?" He asks with a grin. "Well… we can arrange for him to leave the room if that will make things easier for you."

"No." Regina is quick to say though her eyes stare down at the ground before her. "I'm not the same person. I'm not... I'm not The Evil Queen." She says with a raise of her chin. "I can't do this… so you'd better think of something else."

"Really?" Greg questions with genuine curiosity. "What makes you think that?" He says moving to stand directly in front of her. She tilts her head back to keep away from his menacing form. "I'm curious to know." He finally comes out and admits.

"I just can't. I don't have to explain myself to you." Regina mutters in a quiet voice as she still moves to avoid the invasion of her personal space. She looks over his shoulder to look at Mary Margaret who seems quite resolved to stand by and say nothing. It was very out of character for someone who has always been so full of brawl a vigor. She doesn't have time to ponder this for long as Greg presses her with a question.

"No… I think we'd all like to know exactly what it is that is keeping you from doing this." He says as he stalks around her. "Why after all this time someone you have clearly hated for so long… well at least that's how the story goes... Why can't you kill her? I mean you've killed innocent people before right? I'm sure you also had plenty of opportunity to attempt to end her life. Here I am handing her over to you… what is it that keeps you from doing the deed now?"

"She's…" Regina starts to say in a small voice, clearly conflicted. She's fed up with people calling her out on her shortcomings but she doesn't want to give this man the satisfaction of thinking he knows her so well. She thinks back now on his words because they remind her now of an earlier conversation with Emma. She had made similar accusations but it seemed Regina never truly provided her an answer when she managed to ask, _"... if you were looking to exact your revenge, why didn't you?"_

The truth was that the question would continue to be avoided and go unanswered. Regina did not _know_ why she let Snow live time and again. She didn't know why it was she allowed the woman to live her alternate life in Storybrooke. She had always claimed to want revenge, to make Snow suffer. She even threatened to end her life on more than one occasion. Instead she managed to separate herself from everyone and everything back then in an attempt to create a new life for herself. With everyone cursed to forget she simply left things alone and when she finally had Henry in her life he took precedence.

For all that she lost she thought she gained with Henry and so revenge was a long forgotten notion. It wasn't until the façade was starting to unravel with the sudden appearance of Snow White's Savior daughter that things sparked up again. She realized that if Emma was the one to break the curse they would go back to their old lives and the conflict would start back up. So in an effort to prevent this she fell back into old habits and attempted to make Snow suffer. Though she was living as Mary Margaret at the time Regina decided any suffering would work.

She framed the woman for a murder that never happened. She tried to get these people to lose hope. She pushed away the son she had learned to love because she was so desperate to hide who she was from him. The curse broke and just as Regina had predicted she was labeled as her old self, cast out, and eventually pushed aside by her own son who suddenly left her to be with _"His family," _She continues to remind herself.

She had raised the boy in an effort to reclaim what she had lost. She lost the love of her life, her father whom she loved dearly but murdered out of what she thought was necessity, and a sadistic mother who only ever claimed to want the best for her out of some form of misguided love but a love all the same. That was all the love of family she knew until Henry and like it or not it seemed his family must take primacy here for was it not this prophecy itself that suggested his mother would provide some cure.

"Regina?" Greg calls breaking her from her trail of thought. "Do you have an answer for us or are you just trying to buy yourself some time? I mean... we've got you. You aren't escaping. At least you won't leave this place alive so you might as well put those thoughts to rest. Either you take me up on my offer to kill her or we'll just slit Henry's throat so you can watch him slowly…" Regina lunges forward only startling the man from speaking further. The chains attached to her wrist restraints keep him just out of reach. The man laughs haughtily. "Well… that was unexpected…" He offers as he tries to shrug the incident off. "Alright let's go. Do it. Kill her now and I promise Henry will be fine."

"Taking someone's heart requires a dark magic that I find myself less inclined to perform. I promised Henry I wouldn't and I will not go back on my word." Regina offers pursing her lips not really having any other valid point to argue at the moment.

"So… you're sparing Snow White's life for your son? You're… choosing not to have your revenge because your son won't like it?" He puckers his lips and presses his hands together before he asks with a grin. "Does he really have this sort of power over you?"

"I love him. I won't do anything to hurt him or his family." Regina offers with a defiant lift of her chin.

"But... he isn't even your son." Greg taunts. "You have no obligation to any of them." He adds as she comes to stand between her and Mary Margaret.

"Family is not bound by blood. He is my son..." Regina offers assuredly. She looks over Greg's shoulder to meet eyes with the brunette, "… and I won't hurt my family."


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

Emma is kneeling near the edge of Mermaid's Lagoon attempting to create a magical maelstrom through only the use of her emotions. Gold stands by, hands clasped together over his cane watching her. It's only a small whirlpool now, barely noticeable, but it's there. As Emma's eyes remain shut in her efforts to concentrate it widens just a little more.

"That's it... you're doing it." Gold encourages in a low mutter and steps closer to the water's edge though it is moving away from him as he does. "Now... don't lose that focus. Whatever is running through you let it take over." He says stepping forward once more. He leans over further to try and get a glimpse of their goal but a rustling of foliage all but throws Emma's concentration off. The water splashes and settles as she hurries to her feet.

Gold turns about to find the cause of this disturbance and snarls as he catches glimpse of a leather clad pirate. "Blast you! We were in the middle of something!" Then suddenly his expression changes as he takes in the form before him throwing a quick glance to his feet. "What are… you doing here?" He is careful to question. "Why aren't you back at..." He doesn't finish asking as he throws a fleeting glance to Emma who is quick to catch on to his change in body language.

"Um… weren't you supposed to be bringing back the ship?" She asks as she steps closer to the pirate lifting her chin and narrowing her eyes on him before looking back to try and read Gold's expression.

"The ship?" Hook says darting his eyes around the area. "Right... "

"Wait a minute!" She blurts out. "You're not Hook." Emma says gesturing to the man's feet with tilt of her head then quickly moving to make a grab for him.

"No wait!" He says putting up his hands in a defensive motion to keep her away. "I..."

"Yes Emma you are quite perceptive." Gold offers in a most annoyed tone but sets his eyes on the form before him. "What are you doing here then?"

"Something isn't right. They've already proceeded with their little experiment but we both know now that Regina isn't the one they want. Is it?" Asks the man with an angered expression, the bitterness in his voice does not go unnoticed.

"Who _are_ you?" Emma insists looking the man up and down.

The pirate sighs in frustration before magically revealing Tinker Belle. "It's me." She says to Emma with a droll roll of her eyes. "Now... you lied to me." She says pointing an accusing finger at Gold. "You said that Regina was the key to settling this prophesy."

"I did not lie Dearie, I merely told you what you needed to hear. I find that all anyone needs is the proper motivation." Gold says as he frowns overdramatically.

"What are you both talking about? What prophecy?" Emma asks not appreciating being left out of this conversation but again she is ignored.

"Well... whatever you think you know about Regina is not true. She won't be able to fulfill this prophecy because she isn't Henry's real mother." The fairy offers clearly upset at being deceived by the man, "... and you haven't managed to get me to Peter. Where is he? We can't restore his shadow if he isn't here."

"Peter is safe." Gold offers with a shrug, unbothered by the fairy's insistence.

"Safe… like my parents?" Emma asks sarcastically.

"Oh you're parents are far from safe… well at least your mother." The fairy says looking Emma in the eye. "When I left camp they were taking your mother to the place they have been working on Regina and the boy." Tink says in a rush.

"What boy?" Emma asks, her eyes narrowing in on the fairy.

"Henry." Tink says.

"Henry's out there?" Emma asks in a broken voice as she steps closer to face Gold. "You've had me out here practicing magic while my family is being tortured?"

"No… what we are doing here is..." Gold tries to calmly explain.

"Save it!" Emma hollers at him turning instead to eye the fairy. "Take me back to your camp." The fairy nods her consent. "We're done here." She nearly growls to Gold before following after the fairy.

As Emma quickly makes her way after the fairy on foot Gold manages to magically appear to impede her. "Believe it or not this is all part of the plan." He says putting up a hand to keep her from walking past him.

"Who's plan? I feel like all we've been doing here is wasting time while you trick and use us to get what you're after!" Her hands tremble where she has them clenched at her sides. She's ready to let it all go but Gold warns.

"Emma anger… is not what you need running through you now."

"Shut up! You're little mind games aren't going to work anymore." She splays her hands before her and manages to conjure up an orb of flames. She draws her arms back in a fluid motion and as she is ready to strike a strange whirring rings out gaining their attention. Emma closes her fists to extinguish her fire and looks back over her shoulder to find the cause of this noise. It sounds as if something is rushing towards them but she can't make anything out in the shade of the trees.

"I warned you..." Gold reminds looking around the shaded area of the forest.

"What is it?" Emma asks in a startled whisper.

"The Shadow." Tink replies in a whisper before rushing to find a hiding place.

"Come on then." Gold says to get Emma to follow him.

"I thought you said we'd be safe out here." Emma says in a grumpy mutter as she follows after the man.

"I said we would be safe at the Lagoon… but you decided to follow that fairy out here." Gold angrily berates. Emma was starting to realize just where Regina's impatience as a teacher developed from. "We can't head back there now. We'll have to move on. Take hold of my cane then." He says as he holds it out.

"What about Tink?" Emma asks looking back to where she last saw the fairy.

"She'll be enough of a distraction for that menacing Shadow. He can't harm her so long as she's bound to him." Gold then nods in a gesture for Emma to take hold of his cane.

"Bound to him? What do you mean…" Emma's words are lost on her as Gold transports them away.

Emma and Gold reappear just inside a courtyard of what looks to be a dilapidated stone castle. As Gold takes a step through the entryway Emma follows behind and starts up with her questions. "What did you mean bound to him? Tinker Belle is bound to the shadow?"

"Yes but that's trivial compared to what you need to know now. We don't have much time…" He starts to say as he walks ahead. "Back at the lagoon I wasn't merely testing your skills with that maelstrom. There is something we need from the bottom of that lagoon or more importantly something _you_ will need to fulfill this prophecy." He turns to look through a new entryway of a large room that has a pit in the middle of it. It is a dark room except for the rays of sunlight that peeks through the cracks in the walls. He is quite hesitant to step foot through the threshold.

"What prophecy? You haven't explained any of this to me." Emma asks as she steps closer to look in to this room as well wondering why she suddenly felt a cold chill rise within her.

"Time's up Gold." Says David as he descends a stone staircase within the darkened room before them.

"David?" Emma whispers but he puts up a hand to still her.

"Wait! Just stay where you are." David warns throwing up both hands in protest. "Don't come any closer. This is a trap." He says wearily looking around.

"A trap?" Emma repeats the question and then looks around. "For who?"

"Me." Gold says. "... but I haven't managed to collect what we need." He says as he looks to David then he turns to the blonde. "Emma, go back to the lagoon. You're going to have to retrieve it yourself."

"Retrieve what?" She asks as a strange whirring sound can be heard coming from the pit. Dark smoke swirls up and it seems as if this smoke somehow consumes Gold drawing him in to that pit. Once he is gone from sight a silence settles in. "What the... where did he go?" Emma asks as she finally makes her way to David at the bottom of the staircase. He takes a firm hold of her shoulder before stepping down to make his way to the middle of this room.

"He made a deal to prolong the inevitable so that he could get things in motion for us. The prophecy is his end." David says as he makes his way to look down in to the now empty pit.

"What prophecy?!" Emma shouts angrily whiles David flinches in response to this. "I'm sorry..." She frowns. "I've been asking the same damn question over and over and no one would answer me." She manages to offer her father an awkward smile.

He smiles weakly and lets out a sigh. "Let's head back to the lagoon and I'll tell you all about it. I've got a map and some other items that Gold sent me for. We don't have much time now that they've got him." David says reaching out to push at Emma's shoulder to encourage her to get moving.

...

"So you won't hurt your family then. Well isn't that sweet?" Greg says happily to Regina before suddenly pulling an angry look. "Alright..." He says signaling for the boys who gag and drag Mary Margaret out and away. "Get him ready." He nods at Tamara.

Tamara then moves to hook Henry up to a different sort of device, one that looks an awful lot like the machine Greg used to torture Regina with back in Storybrooke.

"Wait... what are you doing?" Regina asks in a rush not bothering to hide the panic in her voice.

"You and Greg had a deal. You were to demonstrate your dark magic and Henry would remain safe. We have no choice now but to be hands-on from here on out." Tamara says making quick work of the wires and electrodes that were an all too familiar sight to Regina.

"No!" Regina shouts frantically, pulling her wrists against the cuffs and chains. There was no way Henry could endure that sort of torture. "You don't even know if this whole prophecy is true!" She tries to reason with them though the panic in her grows. "I mean... you... got the details of it from Rumplestiltskin, The Dark One himself. You honestly think he's going to help you with all of this? That makes no sense. You don't know him! He'll say and do anything to save himself. He's a coward!"

Tamara ignores these frantic pleas as she lifts Henry's head from the table to tie a small gag over his mouth. "That's to keep the noise down." She says to him with a wicked smile.

"No!" Regina shouts again. Never had Regina felt such a fleeting need to protect her son. She didn't care how desperate she sounded. "If you truly needed dark magic he was the person you wanted. You let Rumple go! You let him..."

"He isn't the one who killed my father though is he?" Greg questions as he steps up to her being certain to keep just out of her reach. "We do need dark magic and yes we're sure that Mr. Gold has something to do with this prophecy but the truth of the matter is we're not done with you here. I... am not done with you." He says as he grins at her.

"Dark magic is not the most powerful magic of all." She spits out angrily but then gasps at her mistake for sharing.

"Oh yeah?" Greg indulges her with a tilt of his head. "Then what is?"

"Love." Regina whispers sadly as she averts her eyes suddenly taking in how helpless the situation is. "True Love." She says with a slight shake of her head thinking that this man would never understand the depth of these words.

"Right." Greg offers, smiling while trying to contain his laughter. "True... Love." He repeats facetiously. "So you think you posses this magic then?" He laughs haughtily. "I think not. With the things you've done..." He frowns angrily, "... the people you have hurt? I doubt there is an ounce of that sort of magic in you."

The expression on Regina's face is nothing but dread. She's afraid to admit it but he was right. "There isn't..." She states sadly. "I can't possibly posses that sort of power." She grimaces on the verge of tears.

"Love is a weakness." Regina's head jerks up to meet his eyes at this familiar phrasing. "It holds no power. Not like the power you've wielded. Stop wasting my time!" He shouts and then he turns to Tamara. "Start him up." He says with a lift of his chin.

"Henry!" Regina calls out desperately. Her frantic cries, as well as any pain the boy might be expressing, are drowned out by the sound of that machine.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

It's all a blur of tears for Regina as she is being forced to stand by and watch her son be tortured. His muscles contract and his small body twitches as the electricity courses through him and soon the memories of her own torture flash before her eyes in an instant. Regina pulls at her restraints so violently that the skin on her wrists tears and reddens. "Henry! No!" She calls out in an anguished cry so desperate. She hiccups to hold back her sobs. "Stop!" She says and then baring her teeth she nearly growls, "Let him go!"

All of a sudden a strange whirring can be heard at the mouth of the cave. A gust of wind blows in so forcefully it knocks those who remain standing to the ground including Regina who is able to catch her fall with the palms of her hands. She looks up towards the entrance of the cave seeing both Greg and Tamara struggle to get their footing and make their way out to find the reason for this sudden disturbance.

Henry's torture is halted due to this distraction. Regina slowly stands upright and dusts herself off, turning to check on her son. "Henry." She whispers to him watching how his little chest quickly rises and falls. He is struggling to breathe properly through his nose since the gag remains in place. "Henry," she whispers again to gain his attention.

The boy slowly turns his face to meet her eyes, his own eyes shining with unspent tears. All he can do is helplessly stare while his breathing remains ragged. Regina sniffles back anymore tears as to not frighten him before calling out something in the way of encouragement, "Henry... it's going to be okay. You're going to be okay." Never one to hold out hope for _anything_ she turned to what she did best where Henry was concerned. She told what she felt was a lie because even if she couldn't convince herself of it she would do whatever she could to keep her son's hopes high.

"Um... get her out of here." Greg mutters in his confusion from the entrance of that cave.

Both Nibs and his boy assistant come to fetch Regina who continues to keep her eyes fixed on her son, the splaying of his bound hand catching her attention. It's his attempt to reach out to her but she's too far away to take hold so again she repeats, "It's going to be okay." She tries to fight off the grimace she feels forming at uttering these words.

Once her cuffs are freed from the chains she lurches toward her son but Nibs catches her in a sort of awkward embrace to mutter lowly in her ear, "Don't make this difficult. So long as they still need him he will live. The torture was meant for you... not him." She pushes her weight against him but he almost begs her with a whispered, "Please?" Whether it's due to her now broken state or the hopelessness she feels in this moment she allows both Nibs and his assistant to escort her out of the cave to yet another cell in a nearby dwelling.

Nibs does not bother with chains as her magic seems to be dormant with those wrist restraints still in place and he had not been given any further instruction other than to remove her from sight. He does however help the woman to sit down on the ground across from Mary Margaret who watches her settle in. Nibs then gives both women a look over before locking the cell leaving his young assistant behind to keep watch. "Fetch me if something goes wrong here." He mumbles to the young lad before heading out the door.

Regina sniffles and in a voice still thick with emotion she manages to comment to a still bound and gagged Mary Margaret, "As if your silent treatment weren't bad enough before." Then she frowns as the woman gives her this odd look of confusion as if she did not understand her reference to their time in the woods. This only annoys and encourages her to speak further. "I'm sure by now you would be giving me some sort of speech about how I shouldn't give up hope or how we will get out of this mess. Maybe I should be grateful then for their insistence on gagging you." She offers a purse of her lips and a small shrug. The boy who stands watch snorts at her comment but the woman makes no effort to acknowledge her still. "I'm sorry..." she mutters angrily and sighs heavily, "... but I simply lack the optimism that runs in this family." She sniffles once more before raising her bound hands to wipe away the wetness from her cheeks.

...

"So what are we supposed do with all of this then?" Emma asks as she follows closely behind her father after having just left the lagoon. He was leading them towards Peter Pan's camp. "We just what… head in to camp and raise hell until we find Peter Pan?" She asks skeptically.

"Gold said once he was taken back there things would fall into place. Peter will be there somewhere ready and waiting. We find him..." he shakes his head to think up an answer, "... and somehow get Peter back with his shadow."

"Somehow? Ungh!" She lets out in her frustration. "I don't like this. You can't expect this to go so smoothly once we get in there."

"Well... Gold managed to hand Regina over in exchange for my freedom and that worked out pretty well for us." He says with a shrug as they push through the bushes.

"He did?" Emma asks in shock.

"Yeah... he even tried to set your mother free but figured it was safer for her there… something about the proper motivation." David offers distractedly.

"I thought... he... well then how did Hook get out? I thought he traded Regina for Hook. I mean he sent him off to find his ship." She says nearly tripping as she is in too much of a hurry to watch her step though David manages to grab her by the arm and set her upright.

"I'm not sure how Hook was freed but he knows his way around here better than anyone. He's the one who got me this map and the list of items we would need." David explains.

"I can't believe you just left Mary Margaret behind though." Emma says shaking her head all the while. "... and Henry?"

"Trust me... I wanted to run back in there but they sort of planned for that. I couldn't find my way back in there without wasting more time. We have to do this soon otherwise we miss our chance." He grimaces.

"So when did you... when did you have time to make a plan with him?" She asks narrowing her eyes on the path trying desperately to figure out the endgame here.

"The last time we were with you and Regina we were captured and brought back to that camp. We were separated for some time... well your mother and I were. Gold came in to explain how he bargained for my freedom but it would be on borrowed time. I would be released and Hook would find me to give further instruction. Gold knows the risk to himself with this whole prophecy and he still managed to send you out here to procure this... whatever this is." He shrugs again.

"Yeah but this is Gold we're talking about. Since when do you trust him?"

"Since he has both your mother and Henry's lives in the palm of his hands right now. I don't have much choice Emma. He has the advantage here. I'm just fumbling along trying to keep up. All I know is he knew exactly where they'd come to collect him… at that castle. So I got everything on the list Hook said we would need and I waited for you there. Gold said once he's back there and things are in order he'll get us in to camp and we make our move."

"That all just sounds a little too perfect." Emma says shaking her head at the idea as she does her best not to run in to David who suddenly stops walking.

"You mean like a trap?" He asks as he looks around them and a group of hooded boys surrounds them. He puts his hands up in surrender

"Something like that." Emma mutters sarcastically as she frowns and offers the same sign of surrender.

...

"You really have no fight left in you do you?" Regina asks Mary Margaret as she looks the woman over. "It's hard to believe you're the same person who thwarted me for all those years in my own kingdom."

"Your kingdom?" Comes the retort from outside the cell. It is the young accomplice who manages to follow Nibs around.

"Excuse me?" Regina questions in annoyance at the eavesdropping but the boy shakes his head in dismissal. Regina insists, "Who are you to think you know anything about me?"

"No one." The boy says with a shrug, turning to give her his back.

"No one but a common lackey for these people and their iniquitous ways." She says with a frown as the silences sets in once more. She sets her gaze on the woman in front of her, taking in her body language. It doesn't take that long for her to realize her mistake. "You aren't Mary Margaret are you?" She asks in a grumble narrowing her eyes now. It would make sense that this woman had been so unmoving with Regina's hand gripping her heart earlier.

"Of course not, she would have willingly sacrificed herself for Henry back in that cave." The boy says angrily.

"What would you know of that?" Regina asks still bothered by the petulance of this boy. He seemed to have much to say and an attitude to boot. She looks back over at the woman before turning to question the boy instead. "Is Snow White here at this camp at all?"

"Yes... but that isn't her." The boy says still keeping his back to Regina.

"Then who the hell is this?" She demands with a scowl only now realizing how foolish she had been in sparing this person's life for Henry's sake.

"Someone we need to protect until Emma and David get here." The boy says in annoyance.

"We?" Regina questions as she looks to the boy in confusion.

The door bursts open to reveal Nibs, "Come on..." He says nearly out of breath. "We think they may have found the camp. We have to try to get to them before he does." He says to the boy as they hurry out of the dwelling.

"What was that all about?" She asks the woman and when she does not get an answer she frowns in a bother and then reaches forward to pull down the gag. "Well… do you know anything useful?"

"I know that I'm lucky you love this Snow White woman enough not to kill her." The woman finally offers in her Mary Margaret voice.

"I do not _love_ her." Regina grumbles as she rolls her eyes.

"You thought I was her… you didn't kill me because of it. Is that not a sign of love?" The woman insists.

"I did not kill you because I thought it would hurt my son." She explains angrily.

"I don't believe you." The woman says with a slight grin.

Regina merely rolls her eyes once more at this comment now. "Why are you even pretending to be _her_?" She finally thinks to ask.

"Tinker Belle…" The woman says with a shrug. "When she spoke with you last she went to find Gold… and Emma. I'm not sure exactly what is going on out there but whatever story he gave her was not adding up."

"It rarely does when he is involved." Regina interrupts but he simply ignores this.

"She… well someone managed to find me where Greg and Tamara were keeping me. Tink used her last bit of magic to disguise all three of us… her, myself… and…"

"Snow White… or... well… Mary Margaret." Regina finishes in a stutter and then her eyebrows rise. "You are Peter Pan then?" She asks narrowing her eyes on the woman but the woman only smiles. "I see." She says with a nod of her head. Suddenly the little boy's attitude all made sense. The fairy might have possibly disguised herself once again as a lost boy but then, "What is the point of all this? Why did that fairy waste her last bit of magic… to do…" She asks gesturing at "him" now. "This?"

"She knows that Emma and David are out there searching for the cure. They'll bring it here and because they think I'm locked up they won't ever suspect that I'll be here. They can try to figure out how to work the cure while Greg and Tamara mess about with the fake _'me'_ out there."

"So the cure is real then?" She asks as she thinks this over.

"Yes… it's a potion. It was formed of elemental magic and the only person who can retrieve it is someone who maintains a balance of both light and dark magic."

"Henry's mother." Regina says in a gasp.

"Exactly… A magic so powerful it would provide a cure." He says quoting the now infamous prophecy. "The only problem is it requires some inactive magic to work." He says now with a shrug.

"Inactive?"

"Henry's blood. He's born of someone who is born of magic. It's there inside him which is why those two were busy messing about with your blood and his. Not that anyone else's blood is needed besides Henry's... they just don't realize that…

"I'm not his birth mother." She finishes with a frown.

...

"Wait so you're telling me that there really is a cure?" Greg asks Gold who had been brought back to camp. He roams the cave where Henry remains strapped to the table.

"Indeed there is. His mother has provided the cure." Gold offers as he smiles down at Henry. Henry for his part frowns quite angrily.

"I'm impressed. I didn't think she had it in her." Greg offers with a shrug still not catching on to the fact that it was Emma and not Regina who provided the cure. "So now we just need to get Regina to finally perform that dark magic."

"Yeah but that didn't work out for us last time." Tamara says as she crosses her arms over herself. "You offered Snow White as a magical sacrifice to her and she didn't take the bait." She says as the three stand together to think on this.

Gold steps forward to suggest, "Perhaps I may be of some assistance but it would serve our interests if we speak away from sensitive ears." He offers this in a hushed tone as he leads them back out to the entrance of the cave being sure to reach out to an item on the table and slip it in to his left coat pocket on the way out.


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

The door of the dwelling bursts open startling both Regina and the cleverly disguised Peter Pan. Nibs and his assistant bring in Emma and David. "It was Gold from the beginning Regina." Emma starts to say as she is pushed forward and in to the cell. "He set us all up. He used me to collect that cure." She says almost embarrassed as her hands are being bound together by the boy now who looks back anxiously towards the door.

"Gold used _you_? Imagine that." Regina replies mockingly. "Meanwhile we've got the man of the hour right here." She says gesturing to the Mary Margaret doppelganger with a quick nod of her head.

"What?" Emma asks looking to who she thinks is her mother. David also manages to throw a look to the woman in question.

"This is Peter Pan." Regina says gesturing at the woman.

"Uh… are you sure you're feeling alright?" Emma asks a little worried.

"I'm serious. This really is…" She starts to say but then she is interrupted.

"You have to figure out how to use that cure." Nibs says to the two women as he kneels next to the cell. "... and you better do it quick. Gold is on his way here." The boy warns as both he and Regina look to Emma.

Always one to doubt the resolve of _'The Savoir'_ Regina questions, "You got it then?" Emma merely frowns and arches a brow as if to suggest _'of course'_ as she reaches with her now bound hands to reveal a clear crystal jar from her pocket. Its contents seem to glimmer and glow a light shade of blue.

"Quickly then." Nibs says to Emma. "Give it to Regina. She has to get it to work somehow."

"Me? I can't... tap in to that sort of magic... and anyway the prophecy claimed his mother would provide that cure and I'm not..." She hesitates and then sighs before finishing, "I'm not Henry's mother." Though this is not the first time she has admitted it aloud the fact that she is saying this in her current company gives her a sudden sense of worthlessness.

"Yeah you are." Emma says. "We both are and all I did was collect the thing." She offers this with both empathy and annoyance, something that only Emma can ever pull off.

"I'm not the one with True Love's magic coursing through her veins." Regina offers in an ever sarcastic grumble.

Emma sighs at Regina's reaction to all of this. "Look... we managed to stop that trigger in the mines. We can do this." She offers assuredly.

"You aren't even sure what we're supposed to do with it." Regina barks out angrily as she watches Emma move to hide away the jar in her pocket.

"Always so quick to give up." The young boy guard offers from where he watches the scene unfold. "You're family is counting on you here Regina." He says shaking his head at her and then the door of the dwelling opens to reveal The Dark One himself, closely followed by Greg and Tamara.

"Family..." Gold offers as he steps in to the dwelling suddenly stunning its occupants into silence. He snaps his fingers and a crystal jar appears in his hands. Emma instantly moves to touch her jacket pocket but then looks to Gold's hand in confusion. She says nothing as she watches how he turns to hand over _that_ jar to Tamara. "You have to take in to consideration that the concept of family is such a hard thing for a woman like Regina to grasp given her own family history."

"What do you want now Gold? Come to revel in your victory against cheating death once more?" Regina growls as she glares at him.

"I simply came to offer a bit of parting knowledge on your mother, on your true family, before you all meet your untimely demise." Regina audibly scoffs but manages to refrain from rolling her eyes this time. "Do you ever wonder why your mother pushed you to be Queen? Why she insisted on having you climb the social ladder?" Regina says nothing as he rambles on. "Why she... allowed me the chance to corrupt you? We both know she could have come back to stop me at any time if it was what she truly wanted." He says with a toothy smile and really these are all just rhetorical questions so he provides an answer himself. "It was because she owed me for all that I gave her."

"She owed you nothing!" Regina hisses while both David and Emma roll their eyes at having to hear her defend Cora once more. "She worked hard to get to where she was in the world." Regina offers shaking her head in anger.

He tilts his head and offers a grin in that most ominous Rumplestiltskin way. "Everything she ever acquired was by my hand and when she betrayed my trust I knew how I would someday repay the favor. After her betrayal I stopped teaching her." He says grinning once more as he lowers his head. "Unbeknownst to her she prepared you so that one day the terms of our original agreement would come to be... that I would someday come to posses you, to hold power over you, and now I do because you see… you have grown to be just as wicked and cruel as she. That was all by my hand... I made you." He says with a satisfied smile. "The only real difference between the two of you is that you kept your heart in your chest where it keeps you from the power you craved... that freedom you so desired. A choice only I could ever offer you."

Regina is on the verge of tears as her emotions are running high, the confusion of her past at the forefront of this confrontation. Emma however doesn't take lightly to a person being blatantly barraged so she blurts, "That's enough." She warns the man as she gets to a stand though it is an awkward motion because her hands are still bound together. "I don't know what you're playing at here but we're all pretty sick of this little game you've got going on with Regina." Regina all but gawks at the blonde in her attempts to defend her but she offers no retort of her own.

"You know... we've been here in Neverland for days now and the only thing you've managed to do really well is get Regina worked up. We've given her the opportunity to speak her mind... to say whatever it is she feels she needs to say so long as we still have her on our side but you..." She says as she pulls her now bound hands forward to poke him in the chest. "All you want to do is remind her of who she used to be. The truth is we wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. You taught her mother. You worked your little manipulations on her... on all of us at one point or another and I think we all just really want you to shut up already! If you're going to kill us then do it. If you're going to stand here another minute and bad mouth this woman then get lost. You've got the cure so just go on and use it." Emma says narrowing her eyes on him in what would appear to be a challenge.

He only grins at her. "Very well then." He turns to address Regina now where she still sits on the ground. "I offer you a choice Regina. You can eliminate this family you seemed to become a part of and in return I will spare both you and young Henry, but if you'd rather you can give up your own freedom by ripping out your heart and handing it over to me. I'll spare them all Henry included. Henry will live either way but you must choose the terms with which he will do so. Soon enough we can put this behind us. All we need is that last bit of dark magic which I'm sure we can retrieve from you in either scenario. As Greg and Tamara so cleverly concluded you simply need a jump start in your magic and either of these actions will suffice." He says with a face lacking any semblance of his normal wickedness.

Regina is quiet for a moment before she mutters, "Kill them..." She carefully rephrases, "… and you'll spare both me and Henry?"

"Yes." Gold concedes and both Greg and Tamara grin in appreciation of this offer.

"Regina? You can't seriously be considering this." Emma asks in surprise.

"You will release me so I that I may speak with Henry first?" Regina asks ignoring Emma's question while focusing her attention on the man.

"Yes of course." He agrees with a nod.

"What?!" Emma shouts and both David and the disguised Peter Pan pull at their bindings. "Regina... don't do this." Emma pleads.

"Regina think of everything you've worked for." David offers in his own desperation. "Henry will be crushed. He believes in you... That you've changed."

"I won't let him die! Not when I have the chance to save him." Regina shouts as she turns to meet eyes with the man. Her voice though wavers as she turns away and sighs. "He's all I have and I... I won't lose him. I'm sorry." She casts her gaze to the ground.

Gold nods for Nibs to fetch her from the cell as Greg and Tamara exit the dwelling. Before Gold makes his own way through the door he turns to the young boy assistant, reaches in to his coat pocket, and places a vial in his hand. The boy looks down at his hand and then back at the captives in the cell and before he can question this action Gold is gone.

...

Henry is still strapped to that table gagged, bleary eyed, but alive. Regina slowly makes her way over to him while her captors give her some space to speak to him in private. She moves to him and pulls down the gag from his mouth cupping his cheek with the palm of one of her still cuffed hands.

"Mom?" He questions quietly. "What's going on?"

"Henry..." She starts to say as she scoots closer to run her hand through his hair. She clears her throat to push away the sadness she is feeling, her heart making her weak once more where she needs to be strong. "Henry, I've been given a chance to save you and I'm going to take it." She says as coldly as she can. "You won't understand it now but someday you'll see that this is what is best."

"What do you mean?" Henry asks in confusion.

Regina's breathing becomes labored. Everything she worked so hard to achieve for her son is about to come undone in one fell swoop. She shuts her eyes to try to gather her words reminding herself that this was for Henry. Henry would live and she would be there to see to it. This was all that mattered. This was how it had to be. She didn't want to be without him. "Gold needs me to perform some dark magic. He says that... that if I..." She can't believe the words that are coming out of her mouth now and she can't help feeling a little heartbroken about it all. She tries instead to reword things in a way that maybe Henry will appreciate. "That if your family sacrifices themselves..." She reverts to her old ways and manages to lie so effortlessly now. "Then you and I can go free. We can leave this place." She smiles weakly.

Henry's face pales as these words sink in. Though her touch was warm and her emotions were real he knew this was not his mother speaking to him now. These were the words of the infamous Evil Queen. Movement at the mouth of the cave catches Henry's attention then. He struggles to lift his head up from the table to watch now as Emma, David, and Mary Margaret are being led in to the cave to be shackled to the wall across from him. "You're... going to kill them?" He says in realization.

"No they..." Regina tries to clarify for him but he's too smart to let this get past him.

"You're going to murder my family... to save me?" He asks in disbelief. "You think... that... I would let you do that?" He asks in a voice laden with heartache. "I thought... I thought you loved me?"

"Henry I do..." She says desperately and then she winces at how her own voice wavers as she tries to convince him she's right. "Henry I do love you... I..."

"Then don't do this." He quietly pleads.

"Henry..." She whispers as she looks around the room. "We..." She tries to continue though she is suddenly breathless as she senses the disappointment he is throwing her way. "We both know your family would make that sacrifice for you. That goes... without saying." She offers with a shake of her head as she tries not to cry.

"It isn't sacrifice when you're making the choice for them." He says not bothering to look at her now. "I thought you changed…" He whispers dejectedly. "I thought you were becoming the hero."

"Henry…" She croaks out sadly and swallows hard. "I don't have any choice." She offers reaching out to him but he flinches and shuts his eyes tightly.

"There's always a choice." He whispers. "You're just making the wrong one. This isn't what a hero would do." And there is the truth of the matter. The hero fights for the greater good or dies trying and so her son is basically saying that of the two choices she was offered by Rumple she should choose the other.

She looks over at the captives now and understands Emma's words from when she had offered to turn herself over for Henry before, _"…there is a difference between sacrifice and giving up."_ It was time for her to choose the hard path, that of the hero.

"I've made my choice." She says as she turns around to face The Dark One. "I'll do as you asked of me. I will give up my freedom so long as Henry and his family remain safe."

"What?" Henry whispers as his eyes pop open and he leans his head back up again. She turns around to smile sadly at him as Gold speaks up.

"Is this your final decision?" Gold asks as he watches her move back to stand closer to Henry.

She looks down to meet Henry's eyes and whispers a simple, "Yes."


	34. Chapter 34

****And so... here is the end. I hope you enjoy it. It's extra long. I am quite satisfied with it though. :D**

**I will miss hearing from you all. I have really appreciated all the reviews, those kind words of encouragement. It's going to be quiet and lonely without them but thank you just the same! :)****

**FINAL CHAPTER:**

"Very well then…" Gold starts as he comes towards Regina. "Let's begin by having you remove your heart for me." He lifts a hand and waves it, the action causing Regina's cuffs to disappear. "Go on." He encourages her though he seems to lack his normal smugness. It is as if he is waiting for her to recant, that he doubts she is willing to sacrifice herself now. Suddenly she feels the need to prove him wrong, to prove everyone wrong, especially Henry. If he had doubts about her will to sacrifice not only for him but for his family she would prove it here and now. She can hear as her son calls to her but she chooses not to react, to not meet his gaze. If she was going to do this she had be strong and giving in to him now would only make things that much harder.

She does look up however to find that Emma and David are watching her most intently. She tears her eyes away from them and tries to focus on her task. To remove a heart required a darkness, a cruel wish to hold power over someone or inflict pain. She had not ever tried to remove her own heart before because it served her no purpose. She moves her hand over where her heart should be and as she sinks it in to her own chest she shuts her eyes. It was terrifying to realize that quite literally this was as close as she had ever been to being in control of her life.

She carefully moves her fingers so that they wrap around her heart. She clutches desperately to it for a moment thinking that maybe she might even squeeze it where it sits, end her life now and be done with it, but then as she goes to remove the organ from her chest she feels a resistance. She opens her eyes and lets out a gasped grunt meeting eyes with Gold who gives a look as though he expected this to happen.

He concentrates on her face and tries not to react to her expressions of confusion. He then throws a sideways glance to the boy assistant and then looks back at Regina as she tries again to tug her own heart out.

As if on cue there is a holler. "No! Regina... don't do it!" The boy then runs over to grab at her. Regina starts to cough aggressively at having her own hand ripped right out of her chest.

"Who the hell is this?!" Greg shouts as he makes his way over to Regina grabbing the boy. "You're in the way kid." He grumbles as he yanks the boy back so roughly that something manages to fall from his pocket.

Looking to the dropped item Greg asks, "What is this?" He looks down at what appears to be an empty vial that once held blood within it. "You little thief!" He growls at the boy yanking him closer and then shoves him towards Nibs who catches him. Greg then turns to Tamara. "I think it's about time we test that cure on the shadow before it suddenly goes missing. Summon the shadow so we can get this show on the road." He says to Gold now.

That now familiar whirring rings out and a wind blows about the cave as if a mini cyclone suddenly formed. When the noise stops and the sand of the cave settles the ghostly shadow appears before them.

"Alright, let's get this started." Greg nods at Tamara who has taken the clear crystal jar in hand. She goes to open it but Gold catches her wrist.

"Perhaps I can perform the deed. Wouldn't want things to suddenly go... awry." He offers pretentiously. Tamara gives him a glare but hands over the container and its dark substance.

"Now my shadowy friend..." Greg announces. "If you'll please bring to us the man from which you had been cast out of so that we may attempt to... to give you what you desire." He says with a smile, appreciating having the upper hand over such a being for if the shadow could truly think freely it would realize now that it in no way would gain from this experiment as Greg and Tamara only seek now to eliminate magic with this cure. Of course as it is not a creature of flesh and bone the shadow obeys the order. It suddenly inflates like a dark balloon. When it contracts and then deflates, a young male figure appears before them, not quite a boy but not quite a man.

Regina remembers her conversation with Peter Pan. The conversation of how Tinker Belle used her last bit of magic to disguise herself, Peter Pan, and Mary Margaret. She looks at this young person feeling an odd sensation in her gut. If that was Mary Margaret what would happen should this experiment continue? The point of her current sacrifice was to keep both Henry and his family safe which by all accounts meant Mary Margaret as well. She steps forward without thinking but Gold is quick to throw an enchantment her way chaining her up to a point on the wall that separates her from the rest of the captives. "Stay out of the way Dearie. It's for your own good. I need to protect my investment after all." He mutters to her as two boy guards called upon by Tamara go to strap down who they think is Peter Pan to a table next to Henry's.

Nibs shares a glance with his own boy assistant not offering to help the man and woman any longer. They both watch as Regina looks down to her hands as if she is trying to will the magic out of them but nothing happens. Perhaps she has been too weakened by those cuffs or was something else to blame?

Gold then raises the crystal jar far above the shadows head ready to pour it over the creature but Greg stops him with a shout, "Wait!" He stands there wide eyed and confused. He blurts in confusion, "Aren't we supposed to use Henry's blood for that to work?"

"Do you want me to use this or not?" Gold asks instead, a fleeting urgency in his voice.

"You were the one who said that the cure…" Greg doesn't get to finish his sentence as Gold ignores him and pours the contents of that jar over the shadow.

Everyone looks to the shadow waiting to see what might happen but then nothing does. In fact the shadow seems to be frozen in place which makes sense because it is after all, "Squid ink…" Emma whispers just loud enough to gain everyone's attention.

"Squid ink?" Tamara repeats in question as she looks to Emma. "If that was squid ink then where is the cure?"

With a snap of his fingers Gold releases Emma and David from their chains. The true Peter Pan only slumps to the ground when his chains are released, the sudden freezing of his shadow making him too weak to be of any use. Gold then shouts, "Emma, get to it!" She goes to grab the cure from her pocket.

Both Tamara and Greg realize they have been tricked by the very man that helped them along. Greg moves quickly to ambush David who already steps up to shield Emma. "No!" Greg shouts as David shoves him back and away. He then throws a punch at the man who dodges him quite easily. "Stop her!" He shouts to Tamara who is already doing her best to wrestle the blonde to the ground.

Emma is a mess of swinging arms and elbows. She struggles to keep hold of the cure as Tamara bears down on her. Her goal is a now fallen Peter Pan and his frozen shadow. Greg manages to best David running full speed toward the man _he _thinks to be Peter Pan on the table, not knowing of the enchantment the fairy had performed.

Regina is helpless to watch this chaotic scene unfold. She isn't sure now who is fighting for what anymore. '_Why did Gold set them free? What did he plan to gain by all of this? Suddenly Emma has the cure? Did she have it this whole time?' _There were simply too many thoughts bouncing around in her mind but one final thought hits her, '_I have to break free'_. Again she looks to her hands trying to will the magic out of them as Gold seemed to have forgotten to release her of her own bonds. She lifts her head in time to see that Greg has taken hold of a dagger from a table at the mouth of the cave and he is headed back toward the tables that now hold Henry and someone she knows to be under the guise of Peter Pan.

Regina's senses heighten as if she can hear nothing but Greg's heavy breathing and it all plays out in slow motion. The man was moving from one end of the cave to the other with that blade in hand which only meant one thing in Regina's mind. He was about to kill someone she loved, and whether that be Henry or who she thinks could very well be Mary Margaret, this was all the motivation she needed at the moment. She watches with an intense gaze as the man moves to those tables. She doesn't pay any mind to the struggles that take place around her in this cave. All she sees is that man with the knife. The same man who tortured her. The same man who kidnapped and tortured her son. If that dagger in his hand meant anything he wasn't looking for torture now, he was out for blood.

"No!" She shouts desperately as she pulls against her chains. Her breathing becomes erratic and she pulls just a bit harder with each step that he takes. "No!" She shouts again with a growl. "You will not hurt them!" She utters fervently as she shuts her eyes. She clenches her hands in to fists and yanks her arms forward so forcefully that her chains pull right out of the wall before magically disintegrating. A surge of energy unlike any she's ever experienced emanates within her, pulses under her skin. All she can think is, _'I can't give up. I can't let him kill her. I can't let that man kill my son. I have to protect them. I have to protect what's left of my family.' _And if that weren't enough she hears a collection of familiar voices in the back of her mind offering pieces of conversation both old and new.

_"Regina... all I ever wanted was for us to be family."_

_"You can keep blaming me if you like. That's fine... it's what you have always done but despite what you might think... I did that because I loved you."_

_"... but you'll be who Henry wants you to be. He really does love you. You know that right?"_

_"Once you allow yourself to love someone it's really hard to hate them..."_

_"I know that I'm lucky you love this Snow White woman enough not to kill her... ... Is that not a sign of love?"_

_"She said that love was weakness but I just sort of knew it wasn't. I told her that love is strength." Emma had said. "Why did you think to say that to her?" "It felt like the right answer... ... If I didn't love her I couldn't have saved her."_

_"Believe it or not there is a bit of magic in having a family. That sort of magic might be the very thing to purify your blackened heart."_

**_"Love... true love is like magic, the most powerful magic of all..."_**

When Regina unclenches her fists there is a blast of white light so blinding that it sends everyone scrambling for cover as a pulsating warmth washes over them followed by an echoed ringing throughout the cave. Everything becomes still and the light fades.

The sand brushing against the walls of the cave sounds a bit like the noise of a gentle rain, a stark contrast from the sounds of struggle that went on just moments ago. Henry is the first to stir as he had been released from the table by whatever magic washed over them. He makes his way along hopping over the now unconscious bodies of his kidnappers. He's seeking out the source of that previously blinding light.

"Mom?" He whispers as he slowly makes his way to Regina who lies on the ground but she does not respond to his call. "Mom?" He whispers again sadly and then there are his grandparents standing by his side as Emma is a bit slower in her actions.

"She did it." A voice calls out from the center of the cave. "She… restored the happy thoughts." Tinker Belle says with a bright smile on her face appearing to be her normal self, wings and all.

"How can you tell?" Emma says addressing the fairy as she moves to grab her son and keep him from getting too close to his fallen mother.

"I can sense it. I feel… free." She says with a shrug as she feels that sudden weight lifted from her shoulders.

The movement of Mary Margaret brushing past her family gets everyone's attention. She moves to kneel down beside her still unconscious form. "Regina?" She whispers reaching out to touch the woman's face. "Regina…" She calls out again bending down closer to check for any signs of life.

"Is she…" Henry starts to ask in a despaired tone as Emma cradles his head to her chest trying to shield him from the sight of it all.

"No… she lives… though that light magic within her has died off." A male voice says and everyone looks to him.

"Regina used light magic?" Mary Margaret asks as she turns to look up at the man who draws nearer.

"Love is the most powerful magic of all. She drew that light source simply by defending the ones she loved… by defending her family. It came in a sudden surge as love often does." He says with a smile as he looks the group over and meets eyes with Mary Margaret who immediately understands. "She'll deny it to the bitter end..." He says still smiling. "But she was looking to both you and young Henry in those last few moments."

"Light magic... How did she even manage to do that?" Emma asks in disbelief.

"Once you were able to get that cure in me…" He says to Emma, "My shadow was restored and so were the happy thoughts. She tapped in to that magic straight away. Her's were the first happy thoughts of that moment which restored the balance of Neverland."

"You're Peter Pan?" Henry asks in confusion.

"Indeed I am," Confirms the man with a nod and a whimsical wave of his arms.

"But you look… so… old…" Henry says and the others laugh.

"Mind over matter my friend… mind over matter. I am as young as I feel and today I feel much like a newborn. It feels good to be whole again… to be myself once more new wrinkles and all." He lets out a low chuckle. "Never again will I take that for granted. The vanity of youth…" He says with a grimace but then shakes off this trail of thought as he takes in a deep breath. "Come now. You mustn't waste anymore time. Your Pirate friend has his ship down by the beach and I believe you have procured a way to get home by the collection of items and incantations you managed to find. Rumplestiltskin knows how to make use of these items and I believe Emma can assist with her own magic. Leave these two to me." He says pointing to Greg and Tamara who lay unconscious still. "I'll need them to clean up the messes they have made here. Should be enough punishment I think and it's high time some of these lost boys found their way home."

"David." Mary Margaret calls from where she still kneels and she doesn't need to voice her request as he is quick to bend down and take Regina up in his arms so that they may head out of the cave ahead of the others.

Gold seems to be speaking in confidence with Peter Pan as Emma and Henry look on for a moment. "She did it?" Henry whispers and Emma looks down at him. "She was the hero this time."

"Yeah kid. She did it." She says with a weak smile though it is met with his brighter one. Gold then turns in their direction and Emma sees this as an opening to question him now, "Why all the deception... the minds games?" She asks as he makes his way to them, shaking Peter Pan's hand along the way, then offering Henry a clap of his shoulder in a show of solidarity.

"Regina is a complicated woman and for as long as I have known her she has always needed that push in the right direction, the proper motivation. As I have said before she does her best work under duress. Where her mother lacked a heart Regina has always been guided by hers and though it often steers her wrong she always reacts accordingly." He says with an overdramatic frown at the realization of it. "Cora knew how to manipulate Regina quite effortlessly because Regina always sought her approval. It was easy to pick up where her mother left off. I have no reservations in using deception to move her along. It is the nature of our relationship." He meets eyes with Emma now as he says, "You played along quite well in that dwelling. You knew I hadn't taken that cure yet you made nothing of it."

"Well... I'm a fast learner. Figured it was all part of..." She puts her hands up to do air quotes, "The plan." She says and smiles despite herself resting her hands on Henry's shoulders. "When I finally realized it was Tink you gave that vial of blood to we hurried to mix it… knew you'd manage the rest because you kept saying that things would fall in to place."

"You became part of the charade the instant you started arguing with me to defend her. She'll resent you for that you know." He says raising his brows and smiling fully now.

"Like she doesn't already have a list full of reasons to resent me?" Emma offers with an easy shrug as she wraps an arm around Henry who smiles up at her. "Come on kid. Let's go home."

...

...

...

Regina's mind now takes her to a long forgotten place, to the trail just outside the fields surrounding her childhood home. She's walking down this path layered in a winter coat shielding her from the cold night air. She hears the snap of a twig and spins around trying to find the source of this noise but she sees nothing. She turns around to continue on her path but jumps in surprise as her mother stands before her.

_"Regina Dear, where are you running off to at such a late hour?"_ Cora questions in something of a tender voice, her spell book in hand.

_"I'm going to get my life back."_ Regina says in confusion because nothing of this scenario seems familiar. She could not recall this sort of scene playing out with her mother in the past. Yes she tried to run away from home before but simply walking away in the dead of night?

_"__**Your**__ life Dear?"_ Cora questions with a menacing grin. _"We both know your life is mine… with all I have done… with all the sacrifices I have made… You are mine and you will do as I say."_

_"So you keep me here trapped for __**my**__ benefit_?_"_ Regina asks with a wince, her voice wavering as she was never so bold to speak out of line to her own mother, knowing the pain that a flick of the wrist could magically inflict on her.

_"For your safety as well. You leave now you risk exposing yourself to the darkness and cruelty of the world. I will always be here to protect you. Considering how you defy me on a daily basis no one will be as forgiving of you as I am. No one out there will ever love you the way I do. No one will ever sacrifice more than I have for you."_ Cora says as she takes a few steps closer to her daughter, close enough to reach out but never one to give in to such displays of affection. _"I can see you have doubts but worry not my love… the day will come when you can leave this place."_ Cora says with a smile as she turns to greet a figure that has suddenly appeared beside them.

It takes but a moment for Regina to register who this person is and then she suggests with a snarl, _"Only to be trapped in a loveless marriage to this man."_

_"My Dear, I offer you a life of wealth to want for nothing. You would do well to learn your place in a man's world."_ Leopold says with an unsettling expression. _"You do as I say and your life will be easy. You go against me and my wishes and there will be hell to pay." _He says now with a chuckle.

_"What'll it be Dearie?"_ A voice beckons to her from the shadows, _"A lifetime with Mommy Dearest deciding your every move or a lifetime of servitude in a loveless marriage? Both sound rather enticing do they not?" _Gold looking more Rumple here says with a maniacal snigger. _"Take my advice now. With magic and my guidance you will outlive these two, gain your freedom, and rule the kingdom having others cower before you. What do they offer you but life as a caged animal? I offer you release from these bonds."_

_"There is no release where magic is concerned. It's a prison all its own. I hate magic… it's dark and wicked. It will never give me the happiness I seek… it isn't… it… it isn't…"_ Regina stammers and thinks to utter once more those words she holds dear though they were not her own. _"Love… True Love… is magic. It creates… happiness."_ It is almost as if the words ring out in an echo.

_"No Regina, Love is an illusion… it is weakness. In the end it leaves you with nothing but pain and regret. Power is what you want… what you need. When you have that you can have it all. You will have it all." _Cora offers with a wicked smile.

_"Stop it! Stop this!"_ Regina shouts as angry tears spill from her eyes. _"I've had enough of you… all of you. Constantly telling me what to do… how to be… who to be…" _She says spinning around to face them. _"You are nothing."_ She says pointing to Cora. _"You… you never loved me and you…"_ She says pointing to Leopold, _"You treated me like nothing, a prize to claim… merely for show."_ She says screaming at him now. _"Like I was your property… to do with as you saw fit. I went from one prison to another and then with the curse I simply went on to another. I went to a place where time stood still. It did nothing to ease away to pain of this wretched life or the emptiness in my heart. You…"_ She starts to say to no one in particular. _"You led me to believe things. I trusted you..."_ She says looking to her mother once more. _"You meddled with innocent lives. You took… a mother who truly loved her daughter away from her. It was bad enough you ruined my life but to drag along another family…"_

_"And what you did was justified? You killed me… you took me from my daughter."_ Leopold argues.

_"Snow… was…"_ Regina starts to say as anguish showers her features, _"She was a victim of incident then. I didn't mean to hurt her... not then..."_

_"Yet you made her life a living hell. Her suffering for yours wasn't it Dear?"_ Cora suggests.

Regina laughs thinking things ironic as she does her best not to fall in to the trap these figures seem to be setting for her. _"I will not take lectures from any of you. You're cruelty to me… your manipulations…" _She trails off as she realizes. _"I could have run away and never looked back. None of this would have happened. I… I could have left everyone to their own devices and I never would have…"_ She can't seem to finish her statement already knowing how the words might taste on her tongue. _"I wouldn't have hurt all those people… those innocent people."_

_"You are giving in Dear. You are giving in to your heart. Don't you realize this will be the end of you? Love is weakness. It will always be…"_ Cora tries to convince her.

_"No Mother it isn't weakness!" _She hurries to cut in._ "Weakness is ripping your heart out so that you never feel a thing good, bad, or otherwise. I lived my life with my heart in its rightful place… beating here within my chest."_ She says striking her breast for emphasis. _"Though it was broken and tossed around I guarded it with as much dignity as I could and yes it hurts and yes the pain has been downright unbearable but without it I would not have lived to know what love truly is. Henry, he's all I've ever wanted… someone to need me… to love me… someone to be proud of me. He might have hated me for being the Evil Queen in a realm different than his but he's… he's given me the chance to be Regina… Just Regina. He's given me this chance to be a part of his family and I wouldn't trade anything in the world for him... for any of them." _She admits with some discomfort, her thoughts betraying her even in her subconscious.

_"They'll never love you Regina. They are not your true family. They are not of your flesh and bone." _Cora taunts.

_"Family goes deeper than flesh and bone. It goes far beyond blood. Family is built of sacrifice and compassion, of trials and encouragement, of forgiveness and redemption." _Regina says with a sad smile as tears stream from her face._ "… and I think I finally have one... in Henry… in Snow…" _She hesitates but breathes out with a sure nod_, "A family."_

...

...

...

Regina lay in her dreaming state in the sleeping quarters of the Jolly Roger. Mary Margaret took it upon herself to watch over the woman as she slept. She wanted to be sure someone was there for her when she woke because there were definitely a lot of things she would need to be made aware of. Gold's plan full of manipulation and deception would be one point, her current lack of magic another.

It was when she started to breathe rapidly in her sleeping state that Mary Margaret made her way closer to look the woman over. She soon noticed tears falling from still closed eyes and wondered how long this might last. Unlike Emma and herself Regina did not seem to have the habit of talking in her sleep so it wasn't clear if the tears were from sadness or of fear within a dream but soon enough she emits a gasp and her eyes flutter open.

Mary Margaret reaches down to grab a hold of the woman by the shoulder. "It's okay. You're on the Jolly Roger." She offers with a reassuring smile. "You're safe." She adds as an afterthought. Regina blinks several times and takes in a few deep breathes trying to gain her senses back. Mary Margaret reaches out to touch a hand to the woman's cheek, wiping a few of those tears from her face with the swipe of her thumb. "You were... crying in your sleep." She announces in a whisper.

Regina remains silent and only sniffles. Her facial features remain indifferent at the comforting touches she is receiving. She does not meet the gaze of the other woman. Then she clears her throat before she manages to inquire in a broken whisper, "Henry?"

"He's fine. He is up top with Emma and the others. I can fetch him for you if you like." She suggests and then she moves to stand but is held in place by a hand that takes a hold of her wrist so she sits back down looking to the woman's face for an explanation.

"No… let him be." She whispers hoarsely but she makes no effort to release her hold so Mary Margaret simply rests her hand on the woman's arm as it is the closest thing she can grab on to for balance.

The silence is not comfortable, only giving Mary Margaret more room to worry, but she knows she needs to allow Regina some time and with her continued silence she figures now is as good a time as any to begin to explain a few things. "Regina…" She starts to say but is soon cut off by the woman.

"Thank you." Regina says in a whisper as she takes in a sharp breath, no doubt fighting off the tears that had started in her sleep. She finally meets the younger woman's questioning gaze and tiredly clarifies. "For letting me come… for... for letting me help to save Henry. I know you normally wouldn't want me near you or your family." She says as she swallows hard and sniffles once more.

"Our family." Mary Margaret amends and Regina manages a faint smile as a response. Not wishing to address this line of discussion she proceeds to try to explain what she started to moments before, "Regina… we think you have lost your dark magic."

Regina, hearing this news, finally releases her hold of the woman's wrist to put out her own hand at her eye level. She tries to conjure something, anything, but nothing happens. She closes her hand into a weak fist and rests her hand down beside her body. "So it seems." She whispers still in a weakened state.

Mary Margaret reaches out again, this time to swipe away the hair from the older woman's face. She's obviously tired but she looks equally sad. She attempts to pull her hand away again but Regina takes hold of her once more, keeping her hand trapped against her cheek. She shuts her eyes a moment before she whispers. "I'm sorry." A few more tears trickle down to stain her cheek.

Unsure of what this apology is for Mary Margaret remains silent, watching as the older woman's eyes flutter open to reveal more of those unspent tears but again she speaks. "There have been few people who have actually died at my own hand, but I am responsible for the deaths of many. I killed a woman once just to prove to Rumple that I could do it. I didn't kill your father myself but I most certainly did kill mine. I killed Greg Mendel's father. I killed Graham when he started to remember who he was. I even killed my own mother."

"That last one wasn't your fault." Mary Margaret points out as if death and murder could be explained away so casually.

"No… but I hired Hook to try and kill her for me well before the curse was cast. Honestly I think I was more upset that you tricked me into it. I wanted her gone for so long." She frowns and then swallows. "The first time I ever used magic... it was to send my mother to Wonderland. I never wanted to marry the King. That was her plan for me. I just felt so... trapped." She says with a cringe remembering how her magic did indeed flow like some rapid current. "She came to see me when I was preparing for the wedding and as we talked something in me just snapped. I felt it coursing through me, the magic, and I pushed her through the looking glass that Rumple gifted to me when..." She lowers her gaze ashamed at the thought, "When I asked him for help the night before. After the wedding I had planned to run away but that was when Rumple made the suggestion that I stay. He offered to guide me so that I could rule the kingdom and someday I would help him. I was so entranced with the power of that magic I used on my wedding day that I gave in." She meets the woman's eyes once more then takes a deep breath only to release it and say, "I'm going to live with all of this for the rest of my life. The choices I've made. The faces of those people I hurt. The realization of what I did by unleashing that curse will forever remain on my mind. I can't take any of those things back but I truly am… sorry... for all of it." She says as tears start to fall freely from her eyes.

Mary Margaret then bows her head so that her chin touches her own chest. She does this to find the right response and the moment she has one she meets eyes with the older woman. "I can't forgive you." She says in a breathless whisper.

Regina's brow furrows as she starts to sit up in concern. "I know... I didn't expect you to… but I truly am… sorry… I just…" she stutters to defend herself. She's too broken and vulnerable now to simply let things be left unsaid.

"Regina…" Mary Margaret interrupts her and then she sighs heavily with a shake of her head. "The magic you used made you evil. That dark magic however is gone now and in essence that part of you shall remain dead so long as you wish it." She takes a hold of Regina's forearm. "I can't forgive Regina the Evil Queen but I'm willing to accept this Regina for who she is. She has a past… a tortured and mangled past yes but I don't care about any of that. I just… I want you to…" She pauses to find the right words. "To be the person you were when I met you, that same woman who risked her life to save me all those years ago, the woman who saved me again today. That woman told me not to give up. That woman told me that Love was magic. I want you to be that woman again." She finishes with a pained smile.

"I can be." Regina says with a whisper. "I will be." She suggests with a nod and a hefty clearing of her throat.

"Good." Mary Margaret says in relief. "… because this Regina has a reason to move on. She's got a son out there who is worried sick about her and I'd love to be able to bring him down to tell you how proud of you he is. He's so happy that you were able to save him... to save us. He thinks you are his biggest hero right now... can't say that I blame him." She says as she runs a hand up and down the woman's arm in a comforting gesture smiling all the while.

Regina offers a sad smile of her own and laughs simply to keep from crying. "Okay but… I'll need a moment. I don't want him to see me… like this." In her embarrassment she looks up to the ceiling.

"When you're ready." Mary Margaret replies in understanding with a curt nod. She moves again in an attempt to stand but is held in place once more by the older woman, her face suddenly expressing the confusion her words cannot.

Regina does not meet eyes with her looking instead to the hand she is tugging at as she draws her in close expressing none of the normal apprehension she should hold with this sort of action. She wraps her arms around the woman without saying a word. Mary Margaret smiles again and rests her cheek against the woman's shoulder. She feels the Regina press her cheek to the top of her head and her smile grows impossibly brighter.

Regina holds on now as tightly as she can. She holds on to the person who had unwittingly been there most of her life. This person she thought she hated. This person she once thought to be her mortal enemy. This person could have left her behind so many times but instead gave her many chances at redemption. This person had every reason in the world to hate her but she doesn't. She hangs on to the younger woman now realizing that while she thought she had lost it all, or that there was never going to be someone there for her, the family she had longed for had been beside her _all along_.

_Fin_

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****Was that not the clumsiest, messiest, even the cheesiest final paragraph? **_I didn't mean to stun you with that it just sort of... happened. _:(

**Aside from that**_ *Clears throat awkwardly*_**... I loved telling this story. It was nice to finally get to write a Regina based piece and it made the summer fly by for me. I finished just in time for the new season to start, a season full of inspiration for all of us fanfiction aficionados.**

**I know it isn't going to be that simple for Regina in the show but we have to wait and see how all that plays out now don't we?**

**This was far… far too long for my tastes. It didn't leave me much room to work on any other sort of stories and ****_man_**** was this hard to keep up with. I don't know how these other fanfic writers do it. I mean sure I enjoy reading lengthy fics but wow!**

**Thank you once again for the reads, reviews, favorites and follows. For those of you who stuck around until the end I hope it was a nice adventure. If not… well… you can't win 'em all. ;) There's always next time though. I do look forward to something new and I am always open to suggestions as well.**

**Thank you again and have a wonderful day! :)**

**Yay Season 3! :D****


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